European Numbers Information Gathering and Monitoring
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Mo phone «*$ pH?*3«-
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NEXT ISSUE. . . The next issue of ENIGMA will be published in
LATE - MARCH 1996.
Contribution would be appreciated by SATURDAY FEBR U ARY 3rd
1996 .
Thank You.
**************************************************************
Cover issue 9
This issue's cover shows a recruitment advertisment for the
C.I.A., if you have any others - please send them in !
2
Station News and Latest Listening
ML TIMES ABE UTC (GMT).
ENGLISH LANGUAGE STATIONS
El) READY READY
Transmissions? continue to schedule, all reports appreciated.
trrnismissi obs repeat on
two
frequencies at 20 minute intervals.
NON ME 2/4
20.00
4740
04
MOM ME 2/3
21.30
4740
32
20.20
3410
04
21.50
4460
32
20.40
3910
04
22.10
4270
32
TUB WE 1/2
19.00
4740
06
3
18.20
3810
08
19.40
3410
06
MED ME 1/3
19.00
4740
84
MED WE 1/2
23.00
5235
13
19.20
3810
84
4
23.20
4740
13
18.40
3410
84
23.40
4480
13
S3 ) LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER
Still active between 10.00 A 22.00 transmitting for 45 minutes each
hour on 3 simulcast frequencies. The schedule seems to have changed
around early September. Frequency use seems more diverse and several
old frequencies have been re-activated and nee ones also introduced.
The early transmissions between 10.00 S 14. GO are no longer confined
to the regular 144S7 15882 & 1SQ48 outlets.
Jamming seems to have reduced, this may be due to the fact that Iran
is under siege from clandestine stations and places a higher priority
on blocking those. Recent reports suggest that Iran is jamming some 11
stations on SM, some with new double jammers which attack the incoming
signal from both sides of the broadcast frequency.
Active LF frequencies at present are ; 16475 16084 15682 14487 13375
12603 11545 10426 9251 8464 7755 7337 6959 6900 6485 5748 5422.
Some frequencies have only very occasional use, for further details
please see letter pages.
E4) CHERRY PICKER
IP's distant relative, still active but does not seem to appear every
day, although some weekend logs have been reported . Mould monitors
outside Europe please listen & report signal strength, particularly
in the Far East.
11.00 14469 1 7489 20474
12.00 17498
13.00 14469 17499 20474
V
V* 1
F5 & G5) COUNTING STM f JOSS
Activity levels srs very high , we Aare Mw only included logs from
the last 3 months in order to give an accurate picture.
Daily
19.00
5153// 7473
MON
18.00
8970// 8143
M(M
18.00
9218// 11491
MOM
21.00
5371
MON
23.00
7532 GERMAN
TUM
01.00
5046
THE
13.00
IGWtylbv/ \
TUM
14.00
12221
TUS
15.00
8085// 10247
TUE
17.00
8780// 8085
TUB
18.00
1 1 491// 1 3450
TUE
22.00
9357 //1 1072
WED
18.00
9070
WED
17.00
6780// 8085
WED
18.00
6970// 8143
WED
18.00
11431//13450
WED
21.00
8185// 10162
THU
14.00
12221
THU
17.00
13444// 11072
mu
18 . OO
11491/ y 13450
THU
19.00
9219// 11481
mu
21.00
5371// 7430
mu
21.00
8185// 10182
FRI
01.00
4470// 5048
FBI
07.00
$813// 8070
FRI
15. 00
8085// 10247
FRI
18.00
1 1 491/ /1 3450
FRI
21.00
6970
SAT
07.00
9070// 11072
SAT
18.00
1B273// 18240
SUM
14.00
7469// 12221
SON
18. 00
6970// 7907
SUM
18.00
11072// 13440
E6 & E?) ENGLISH NAN ENDS 00000 & 000 000
Please see our feature on the 'Russian Man family in this issue,
further details are given about the possibility or as extended
schedule for these transmissions.
E9) MAGNETIC FIELDS
Transmissions from this station are becoming more erratic, at the time
of going to press the station seems to be signing on around 18.00
(changed from 18.00) although some meets the message is not broadcast
and on others, it starts up as late as 19.15.
We have had several reports of this station mixing with a broadcast
programme. The mix seems to be of Middle Eastern origin, possibly the
Voice of Mojahed - a clandestine broadcaster. Station E9 also has a
Middle Eastern language numbers (?) format see station ¥8.
Monday G 19.00 variable on 8645 - subject to drift.
Messages in English are addressed to 44B or 44D (it is difficult to be
certain.
BIO) PHONETIC ALPHABET - MATO (EZI etc.)
This vast network continues to operate between 2 & 19 mHz. Recent
changes have included some transmissions in 8 SB particularly from
CIO. Please see Simon Mason Writes for further information about VLB
and our book review page , looking at Moss ad operations.
4
Latest cmll-signs reported mro listed below.
2120
KPA
2270
JSR
2515
KPA
3150
PCD
3270
KPA
3417
ART
41S5
STM
4270
PCD
4360
MIW
4880
OLE
5091
JSE
5170
CIO
5230
SIM
5715
ZWL
5820
YHF
8270
OLE
6370
VLB
6500
PCD
6840
EEI
6911
OEM
7115
ART
7322
FTJ
7445
KPA
8025
CIO
8127
CIO
8484
HIM
9130
EEI
9402
YHF
10125
cm
10352
VLB
10680
YHF
11565 EEI
12747 CIO
12950
KPA
13533 EEI
13321
HIM
14000 STM
14530
KPA
14750 Miff
15980 EEI
17121
VLB
17170
KPA
17410 EEI
19715 EEI
Ell) ~ OBLIQUE "
2628
FTJ
2743
OLE
2953
SIM
3640
VLB
3840
YHF
4463
FTJ
4560
SYN
4665
VLB
5339
OEM
5437
ART
.5629
KPA
6635
CIO
6657
HIM
6745
CIO
7540
JSR
7607
VLB
7918
YHF
8641
MIW
10820
YHF
10970 MIW
174 SB VLB
This station is one which likes to stay hidden and changes frequency
often . At present it cm be heard with call 231 at the following
times ,
1st £ 3rd TffiM 04.30 6905
1st & 3r FRI 20.30 4780 (may change to 3080)
Frequencies vary depending on time of year. The 20.30 transmission
moves between 3060 4015 4780 and 5050 .
E12)
MOM
EMM
Mot Pound
Repea ted
21.00
4644 Would readers please
MED
04.00
5072
Repeated
21.00
4644 re-confirm this
THU
04.00
5821
Repeated
20.00
5821 F schedule.
FRI
04.00
4573
Repea ted
21.00
4644
Please send in all reports of M N N.
E14) 4F COUNT CONTROL
Active mud operating to following schedules.
00. 30 5153
06.30 7343// 11072//13465
13. 30 1 1072// 1 3464// 1 5985
1 7. 30 7343// 11072// 13465
Some transmissions may not be
daily .
E15) PHONETIC ALPHABET - pro NATO (NBA etc.)
1
Reception of this station is very variable, reader in Finland report
very poor reception? the signal seems to improve in Southern Europe
and is very strong around Greece and the Near East.
Detailed
below are latest
schedules.
U .00
18000
8EC
17.00
14000
FTP
12.00
17502
¥SU
17.30
5835
MSA
12.30
11170
MSA
18.00
5835
USP
13.00
11000
BBC
19.00
4130
SAR
14.00
14000
FTP
20.00
5530
MAS
16.30
6715
MS
21.00
4130
MSA
E16) THO LETTER
(ENGLISH)
Please see Simon Nason Writes for latest Two Letter schedule .
An. interesting incident occurred on Wednesday 16th August. The call-
sign Alpha-Uniform was sent on two frequencies ~ messages followed in
English at SO minute intervals throughout the evening.
4821//4888 Alpha-Uniform
Time
Call-sign
Group Count
13.00
702
124
These have not been
13.30
509
107
heard since
20.00
885
117
20.30
192
105
21.00
342
109
E17) ENGLISH LADY 00000 ENDING (274 etc.)
This station likes to use a random schedule, but does have one regular
transmi ssi on .
Random logs include
Wed 07 . 30 7625
Thur 19.00 12210
Thur 20.00 10230
Sat 20.55 4744
Calling ???
Calling 561
Calling 531
Calling 124
Regular transmission- Wed 08.00 9270-9291 variable Calling 274 , this
is now heard each week with messages.
On Wednesday August 30th a strange incident occurred. Expecting the
English Lady calling * 274 * I timed in as usual at 08.00. To my
surprise I heard a Russian Male voice from station SB, the call sign
was "Ova Syem Chet i rye ' or 274. A message followed in Russian. Perhaps
this was the result of some mix up at the station ?
Another unknown station was also monitored on Saturday § Sunday June
3rd mid 4th. It has not been heard since, but had the same format
ending in 00000.
I heard the English speaking lady (her voice was very similar to the
regular station but not quite the same, pronunciation was more
' English *) in mid flow on 9345 Ms at 20.10. She ended with the decode
key 258 and group count 30, no 00000 ending was sent at this point.
I remained tuned and to my surprise after a 30 second break a Male
voice appeared in English calling 169 . The decode key was 750 and the
group count 25, he ended with 00000.
The following evening I heard the Lady on 9315 again at 20.00 with
call 276 decode key 124 and an 80 group message ending 00000. I have
not heard either voice since .
6
GERMAN LANGUAGE STATIONS
G2) SWEDISH RHAPSODY
This station also seems to be moving towards more transmissions in
SSB. The music box Just does not sound right 1 We have attempted to
put together a schedule , but , must stress this is far from complete.
Swedish Rhapsody operates on a basis that ¥K 1 starts on the first
Saturday regardless of date.
DAT
TIME
FREQUENCY
1
2
3
4
MON
21.00
5340
0
TUE
21.00
5340
#
WE
21.30
5340
4
TUE
23.00
3825
4
WED
17.00
8200
4
0
WED
17.30
6200 Slty
0
0
WED
19.00
6200
#
WED
20.00
5340
0
WED
22.00
6200
0
WED
22.00
5340
0
THU
18.00
4195
#
THU
20.00
5340
#
mu
21.00
5340
#
THU
22.00
5340
#
0
THU
23.00
3825
#
SAT
00.00
5340
#
SAT
09 . OG
sms
0
SAT
12.00
8488
#
0
SAT
22.00
5340
0
SAT
23.00
5349
#
SUM
00.00
4779
#
SUN
00.00
5748
0
#
SUN
SSB 10.00
8138
#
SUN
AM 11.00
8188
0
SUM
12.00
8488
0
$
0
SUN
20.00
3823
0
SUN
22.00
5340
0
#
SUN
22.00
3823
0
SUN
23.00
4779
#
5
This is a very
incomplete summer
schedule !
The use of SSB
is very recent &
others exist.
Active frequencies are 3825 4185 4779 4832 5340 5748 6200 8188 8488
please send in all reports. Other frequencies may also active.
(Message groups are not indicated) .
G4) THREE NOTE ODDITY
We are still following up information on the location of this station
and will be publishing further details in issue 10. Weeping track of 3
Note Oddity is very difficult, the schedule and frequency changes do
not help. Detailed below are all the reports we have received in the
last few months .
The station seems to keep CRT hut ML TIMMS SHOW AW UTC regardless
of transmission. Frequencies change each new month.
DAY
UTC
JUNE
JULY
AUG
TUB
19.00
4773
4380
4208
THU
19. OB
4773
4360
4208
FBI
04.05
6875
6379
FBI
16.00
FBI
17.00
5178
FBI
18.40
5256
SAT
19.00
4773
4360
4208
SAT
20. 10
21.10
7481
6853
6842
SUN
04.10
05.10
5166
5186
12. 10
7568
7481
7736
20.10
5281
5422
5233
20.35
21.35
5181
5320
5135
21.10
22.10
6547
5718
5617
Frequencies shown for Nov
Dec ,
SEPT OCT NOV DSC JM
7625
5575
4410
4627
5817
5329
4276
3940
4063
8752
4485
3471
3352
3268
4385
3389
4126
5487
4827
4139
3815
m are
projected from 1994 logs.
GS) COUNTING STATION
Simon Mason informs me that most of GS - Counting Stations J**™"^™*
to the middle of the night/early mornings. This station was very
active daring the Cold Mar years, hut seems to be fairly 3 - m«e pt
present . The station is the German language version of the fmmx^xar
Counting Station E5 which is very active.
German language MOM 23.00 7532
GS) GERMAN LADY 00000 ENDING
This station and G7 (German Lady GOB DOB ending) are often mixed up
when logged, the easy way to tell them apart is ;
G6 -GROUPS MRS ALWAYS PAIRED
G? -GROUPS ARM ALWAYS SINGLE
- ENDS OOOOB
~ ENDS BOB BOO EWE
GB uses regular time slots but random frequencies. In winter try;-
MON 19.00
MON 20.00
SAT 20.15
recent id's include 035 324 A BIO, remember the groups
are always paired and the station ends OBOOB.
Other id's noted in the past are
likes to stay hidden and so logs are
122 235 569 625 628 » This station
as always appreciated.
a
V
G7) m fRMM LADY 000 000 ENDING
Messages are sent in Single Groups , uses 3 or 4 figure decode key.
Each transmission is repeated on 2 further frequencies . Null messages
are repeated only once.
Regular messages include ;
TEE
06.30
7378
8178
9278
Call
278 (Off air Now-March)
mu
08.30
7378
8178
9278
Call
278 (Off air Nov-March)
mu
19.00
13570
12210
8128
Call
723
FRI
18.00
9127
7627
10227
Call
187
FRI
20.00
5127
Call
771
SAT
08.00
13527
11127
9427
Call
821
We hare number of logs of G6 & G7 which we cannot positively identify,
so please check for double or single groups when reporting, thanks.
Gil) STRICH
Like its English & Slavic relations the German language transmissions
are also rather shy 1 Regular transmissions can however be heard as
follows.
2nd & 4th WED 06.00 6570 or 7500 Call 406
WEEKLY TUB 21.00 4015 or 3820 Call 752
WEEKLY WED 08.30 7841 Call 752
Frequencies vary depending on time of year. The 21.00
transmission moves between 3820 4015 4780 5050.
G16) GERMAN TWO LETTER STATIONS
All transmissions start on the hour or half-hour . An electronic tune
and two letter spoken identification is sent for 5 minutes. For
example " Charlie Delta" or "Golf Kilo".
Simon Mason sends us the latest operating schedules which appear in
his feature later in this issue.
Two Letter stations are much less active than in recent years and are
now rarely heard in the evenings.
Full frequency lists follow, please report call signs and id's heard.
2690 2707 2745 3228 3262 4543 4584 4821 4888 5015 5182 5732 5770 6765 6853
7404 7532 7661 7752 7858 8083 8173 8040 8325 8450
103.70 10460 10500 10740 11617 11108 11545 12092 12210 12314 13382
13752 13775 13890 14622 14945 15610 16055 16220 16414 17430 18195
18575 19295 19755 20240 20350 20675 22885
Simon tells me that regular traffic is now sent during the day on the
higher frequencies . Germany no longer needs to communicate with agents
in the former DDR and Eastern Europe and most of the call signs which
were heard daily until the early 1990 's have left the air, as a result
most of the low frequencies are now no longer in use.
9
SLAVIC STATIONS
S2) DRUMS & TRUMPETS
This station is still operating on its
regardless of day. It did not appear on
Wednesday. The result was the use of
station Ready Ready !
9th of each south schedule ,
August 9th which fell on a
the frequency by its sister
Monthly 9th of each month regardless of day
20.30 4740
SS A S7) RUSSIAN MM 00000 & 000 OOO ENDING
Please see feature for latest update and regular schedules.
S8) YT TT IT
The Monday and Wednesday transmission at 1®-®®
1st, but may re-act irate without ™™ing(this
particular station). See M27 in MORSE SECTION.
on 4424 ended on July
does happen with this
It was also active on Mondays at 08.30 on 4424 but this has not been
noted since September. Please report if heard, thanks.
S13 & S14) RUSSIAN COUNTING MEN
513) Russian counting and announcements of 2 minutes duration. The
last time I noted this (which is very hard to find) was on Thursday at
20*00 m i 3824 .
514) Russian counting and announcements long duration . This wms active
on 4328 but moved recently to 4040, this can be heard from early
afternoon onward with a continuous loop announcement, reception
improves with the dark path*
SU) "PRBSKA " § S12) " CHBTTA "
t i thf* Un&l'ish & German language relations these two station^ also
uH 7"fTl*, bat S12 'Chat t.- tea brotan .it* tuition
end sent several messages since our last edition.
At the time of writing I have no reports of the “ Preska broadcasts
and two' sitings of the ” Chetta " variant. It should be noted that the
English, German & Preska/Chetta set up do not send very
'transmission are either weekly, fortnightly or monthly and 99% of them
last for only 5 minutes per transmission.
"Chetta'
“Chetta:
1st A 3rd MED of Month 21.08 4015 Call 871
1st MON of Month 21.00 4483 Call 755
The call 971 does send messages, these are sent in double groups with
the repeat in single groups.
The language cannot be positively identified and two of the numbers
are so close as to sound almost the sm&o-
10
The numbers sound like the following sards.
Ad inks, Dvoika, Tfoika, Tchityorka, Pityorka, Shest, Syim, Vosim,
Dyeyit, Moil.
Cherts
? Weonya
VnimaniJ
Kan Jet
- I ine. (stroke.) (lepTh)
- Attention
- End ( K sound barely audible)
The numbers are spoken quickly and run into each other, too words
Tchityorka & Petjorka are so close in sound that only a trained ear or
native speaker would be able to tell them apart 1 This would probably
result in a decoding nightmare .
My thanks to Risto in Finland for his help with these words. Comments
would be welcome.
SIS) OLX OLX OLX
Mi. the time of going to press the schedule remained unchanged from
issue 8, but changes would seem likely to take account of winter
condi tions.
DAILY
00.00
to
04.00
05.00
to
08.00
08.00
to
18.00
17.00
to
20.00
21.00
to
22.00
5301 8142 12275
8142 9320 12275
8142 14877 18303
5301 9320 12275
5301 8142 12275
Transmissions start on
the hour and last about
20 minutes.
In previous issues we have reported the address of this station ( the
only numbers station in the world to QSL) which is care of the
Ministry of the Interior. This seems strange for an operation which
sends messages out of the country ! However, recent information
received confirms the reasons behind this particular oddity.
The following was received by ENIGMA " The Czech foreign intelligence
service actually is the First Section of the Intelligence Directorate
of the Ministry of the Interior. But Czech citizens and Restern
authorities alike commonly refer to it as State Secret Security,
St atm Tajna Bespecnost, or the STB “
SI/) CZECH LADY CONTROL “ — single 5F message.
Again no changes to this station.
DAILY 13.55 to 14.02 4485//5027
11
318/19) CZECH HAH
Very difficult to find random transmissions on odd frequencies,
sounds like a rough "gravel" voiced male announcer.
Only one report - heard on September 5th at 22.00 on 4010, ended with
Konec- then off air. Any reports appreciated.
One interesting note we can make - all the logs over a protracted
period seem to be around the end of the month or the first week of a
new month, coincidence perhaps ?
S21 ) RUSSIAN LADY
Recent reports are as follows.
MON
19.45
5290
Call
491
TUE
17.40
5740
Call
342
THU
17.40
5740
Call
342
THU
18.45
5290
Call
491
SAT
08.15
5075
Call
205
The station likes to start at odd times and so we guess that more
transmissions are around as yet undiscovered.
“For D", Re- 6507 kHz, the signs! is a channel marker transmitted by
the British Royal Naval Coastal Control. It is one of several; this is
channel E.
Thank you for your logs. Where possible, please include ENIGMA
reference numbers for ease of identification.
GR27 - 25941 27368 33126 88804 28588 87333 64648 85811 88120 52658
73883 31126 11881 72626 68941 29433 28688 81268 89881 17388
33287 39488 88283 39484 11338 83326 89332 OOGOO
493 / 333 /
0980
5489
3351
3414
6255
2195
0850
/ -)
2225
1327
3052
0602
494 //' 5001
3027
8285
1693
9717
2233
3434
2379
/ 1
8032
9508
7031
1114
OTHER LANGUAGES
SPANISH
V2) SPANISH LADY - TNO FINALS
Me have somewhat neglected Spanish transmissions, but , hope to reco /™
more reports. It would sees that some of the transmissions Bre f
areas other the North & South America. It is important to catch the
end of the transmission to Identify the stations correctly.
finals (occasionally 3 finals) is quite active
» O m G* - JL. If M -O «M T» *+■'*■? «’&’*
a si mal taneously, 9260
with deeper voice, but
same format.
and
is usually around in
the mornings
TUB
08.00
926m
FRI
05.00 4050
TOE
08.00
753m
FRI
07. 00 7887
NED
03.00
6825
SUN
05.00 7725
NED
04.00
7860
SUN
06.30 6758
NED
07.00
8787
SUN
07.00 5415
THU
THU
07.00
08.00
5415
6825
SUN
08.00 8186
¥6) SPANISH LADY OOOOO ENDING
Still around on Friday A Saturday evenings, strong signal , sends in
double groups ending OOOOO - likes random frequencies.
Not very motive, uses random times and frequencies. .
¥7) SPANISH HAN OOO OOO ENDING
This is another of those random stations and like the above , follows
the KGB/GRU style of operation, random frequencies and ’repeat
transmissions. Messages are sent in single groups ending OOO OOO.
Recent logs have included ;
MOM
MON & THU
MOM A THU
MW
06.00
06. 00
13.00
13540
7495
9110
12220
Call 033
Call 273
Call 273
Call 105
Please send in all logs for Spanish speaking stations with as much
detail as possible. Includes Call - Decode Key ~ Double or Single
Groups and Ending, plus of course YL/OM. Thanks.
¥8) EASTERN MUSIC STATION ( language unidentified).
This station is a relation of E9 the Magnetic Fields English language
operation. Me still need a positive identification of the language
used by this station.
13
T rs/jKSffii sssi ons wars first noted operating on the 1st Saturday of each
month, but in July the station appeared on July 8th (the second
Saturday) Like Magnetic Fields it is rather erratic in its behaviour !
I would try the following days and times but suggest you take a
flexible approach.
%•
FR1 08.20 11290 These are a guide line, transmissions
SAT 08.20 11290 may start late or not at all.
SAT 18.00 8845
11290 transmissions were noted on the second week of the month , while
6645 should be the first Saturday of the month .
m We had one report only of an Arabic Male in SSB at 13.30 on 14472 i
can anyone confirm if this still around ?
¥9) ORIENTAL LANGUAGES
Lots of interest, end I hope you will enjoy another " 'Looking East" in
this issue. I also received a tape recording from Mike in Kent of the
“Bright Mo Hs~ station - which I had never heard before.
It is very difficult for European monitors to ID these stations so I
will list them as supplied and hand over to our Far East division for
help !
MOM
20.00
10355
ORIENTAL
YL
5F
MOM
21.00
10078
ORIENTAL
YL
4F
MOM/
SAT
20.00
12028
ORIENTAL
YL
This gives regular good reception
calls for 5 minutes then off air
REGULAR - Try, Daily
18.00 5738 “ BRIGHT MO HA“ Calls for 5 minutes -
19.00 &6280 Reception on 5738 is very variable
20.00 in Europe due to heavy jamming of
21 . 00 cl andes&in&s .
¥13) MEM STAR BROADCASTING
Further details and frequencies can be found in our feature " Looking
East“ in this issue.
15.00 8300 Audible in the UK when conditions are
22.00 8300 good.
14
MORSE STATION NEWS
Keeping up with the ever-increasing amount of Horse numbers
traffic is proving a difficult task. The only way we can
continue to report fully and accurately on the activity and
changes that seem to constantly take place in the shadowy
world of Numbers Stations is to work towards using s
1« Dedicated monitors who are familiar with the habits of
specif ic stations - who know exactly what to look for *
Intelligent guesswork and even intuition can then reap
results* and listening for the more 'difficult' stations then
becomes less a matter of pure chance,
2. The use of standardised log sheets specifically geared to
particular stations, and their often, seemingly illogical
schedules,
3* The use of standardised notation of transmission formats
when recording logs - again, these would vary according to the
station.
If all this could be achieved - it's up to us here at ENIGMA
HQ to work out how we're going to do this - then we would be
able to collate incoming logs much more easily, we'd be able
to analyse them and publish their results more accurately, and
the quality and usefulness of logs received would increase.
All the above applies equally to voice stations, but the need
is greater for the morse stations as there are far more of
thesi they are far more active and yet disproportionately
logs of these are received. Logs received don't in any
way reflect levels of activity, and this is largely because
many of our subscribers are unable to copy morse, (a question
on this was accidentally omitted from, our questionnaire) This
is a pity, as voice activity is, in general, on the decline,
Morse is the predominant mode amongst numbers stations and
always has been 5 it is also used almost exclusively by
illegals and agents sending their massages back to their home
countries - voice is never used, Morse has several advantages
over voices it has a very high immunity to interference and
jamming | under poor conditions numbers read out as words can
lead to ambiguity creeping in through misreading. Morse is an
international language - it doesn't give away the language
spoken by its recipients^ it is less obtrusive and can 'hide
away' more easily in the HF spectrum, especially when high
speed keying is used. Lastly, it is the ideal mode for low
power suitcase-type sets as transmitters are far less complex
and are therefore smaller and more reliable. IMhen properly-
suppressed against key clicks and harmonics it is far less
likely to cause interference to local receivers (and mobile DF
units) than R/T modes. It can also be sent from a hotel room,
for example* in silence, unlike an agent speaking into a
microphone !
Any of our subscribers who feel that Morse numbers stations
are boring or irrelevant are mistaken,, To newcomers, hearing
a voice numbers station for the first time conjures up the
15
glamour of espionage* However * a meaningless string of dits~
and-dahs means but little to the uninitiated. These voiceless,
accentless, languageless messages certainly lack the glamour
of something like the outrageously obtrusive Tyrolean
Musicstation , but we mustn't forget that they make up the bulk
of numbers traffic- The glamour is still there, but it is more
subtle. Being less obvious, and therefore more secretive,
mors© is ideally suited for low-tech undercover HF
communications.
We must emphasise that ENIBHA exists to investigate ALL
numbers related activity, not merely that small, vocal and
popular segment which consists of voices reading out numbers.
That may have started us all off, but it's only the beginning
of tb© story. If we ar© to take our subject seriously, then
w© must avoid restricting it to one small area merely on the
grounds of popular appeal - whether it be due to inability to
read morse or for any other reason. It is hoped ‘that our
reports on Morse stations are read by those unable to r©ad-
Mors® as basically it's all the same subject, and to complete
the jigsaw we must have all the pieces. Host operations use
both mor^m and voice modes and voice stations cannot afford to
be looked at in isolation* Far example, the so-called
' Strich' group uses well over 90% morse transmission , yet th©
majority of logs we receive would give the ■ opposite
impression. Unfortunately, logs received do not accurately
reflect activity levels, and this is entirely due to our
disorganised and erratic listening habits and personal
preferences. Whether you are a hobbyist, a serious
investigator or merely curious we all want to break th©
international conspiracy behind the Numbers Stations - only a
professional approach can ever do that.
Now for th© news itself S
Hi As predicted, the main network adopted the 463 schedule at
1500 on 2nd September. At 1800 on 2nd November it will change
to 197 for the next four months. In August this network's
secondary channels were dropped and have not been heard since.
Perhaps a more powerful transmitter is now in use - signals
seem ®v©n stronger. Perhaps they, whoever 'they' are, need
their other Tx for other purposes. . The secondary networks,
745 , 5 §3 & i&8 disappeared from their usual slots on 30.9 &
1*10. They may still be around, More on this complex station
in the accompanying article. A new secondary transmission was
heard at 2010 Saturday on approx 4630 - its ID needs
conf irminq*
M2. A© predictable as usual. Winter schedule should begin soon
- frequencies will only change slightly. General ly, lower
freqs were used this summer than last. As expected, 812 CNNM)
showed th© same tendency. Always. very strong in England.
16
II
M3. Hessaqe levels are definateiy increasing a using similar
listening patterns each year these are relative, figures -1993s
all /DO, 1994s 12 (building up in Autumn), 1995 so far: 26
(again, building up in Autumn) , The messages themselves
strongly favour group counts in the low fifties.* Several
ID's have appeared ? all conforming to known clusters except
857, however, about a year ago an 'unknown morse station
sending 854/00 was reported. Active freqs since July: 382 J
4013 4465 463.0 5050 5150 51S0 5365 3520 5550 5860 6330 6334
(both of these returned on same morning) 6750 6010 6905 7444
7580 7710 7841 8033 9180 9950 10540 10720
M4 Still around on 3825 4195 5340. Sorry! Schedule still not
ready. Help needed!
q[_X As active as ever. Look out for its winter schedule coming
up. Wo changes.
M7 In August the 10 minutes of rapid dashes preceding HIO
transmissions became erratic and has effectively now been
dropped - for some reason a short burst of dashes still often
appears fit aroufid 12 mins before start of transmission * Th©
last time I heard M7 was also in August* This may be due to
changes in my monitoring pattern and/or change in schedules*
On the other hand, if §17 was to also drop its dashes (in line
with HiO) this wou leaver y little, time for tuning in, as M7
only sends one minute of tone sequence followed by a preamble
sent qnce . «*» g « 966 966 966 32 32 17 17 - = • No new
schedules have been discovered so far, so h/ may. have mergea
with M10.
HQ Regularly heard in the mornings with a strong signal. 5420
67B5 7520 7528* Often has a distinctive 'quenched torse'
modulation and clicks when key opens* Uses cut numbers,
( ANDUWRIGMT) and has been reported by Don Sc hi mm© 1 in his book
operating as high as 18434. « ay be morse version of 92/3.
Hip See M7. Lack of rapid dashes and its habit for
commencing at any 10 minute interval, make this one hard©? to
find. Schedules are usually fortnightly, repeating on the
following day at the same time, and on the same parallel
frequencies. Winter freqs came into operation in September.
Amongst others 253 as always can be heard at 0820 Mon/Tues on
019O//7845, 408 & 695 at 0900 on 4485//5301 (Wed/Thur - same*
weeks as 253). Not yet identifieds Non 1640 on 4485//? to 2/5
and at least one more* Tbur 2020 on 4835//?
HI jj Only one report (again! Thanks to Ian in Scotland)? 6th
September ending at 1448, on 11470. ID missed.
H12 Always seems to be around and often extremely strong* This
isn't the place to list its numerous callsigns and schedules.
If you can't find this one buy a new Rx - an Q~v~o will do!
1 ?
1
M13 Message indicators still steadily increasing and close to
160 now. Usually this number inrea ses by one each month and
always coincides with a new message.
M14/24 M12 notes above apply equally to this one too.
BEY Still with us. An article will appear when we find the
space !
M17 Schedule still not ready * Can anyone find the 2nd repeat
for the fallowing transmissions? 0900 7425—6675—???? { ID
53xxx) , Tue 0800 9050-8070-???? (62xxx) These may not be
weekly. I've checked all known freqs and can't find it
anywhere. Either, 2nd repeats aren't being sent or
transmissions are beginning 20 minutes earlier (tooth unlikely)
ojr a yet to to© discovered frequency exists.
M2Q Last heard around early July. Due to its varied habits it
is not always easy to be sure on this one. However , it was
very active from 27.3 to 27.6 on its usual freqss 5540
5625// 6520 6918//8307 9285 and a new one, 11325. Use of these
freqs, and a few more, help, to confirm its identity® May
transmit many times daily and never uses ID's.
M21 Still wandering around the 3-7MHz region, sometimes using
two parallel freqs. Sends its 14 character "time signal” once
a minute, with the occasional short 14f message between *
Recent freqs include 3297 3039 4103 4112 4923 5142 5181 &
6966.
4X1 We have r®tz&iv®d some detailed reports of this station,
but haven't yet had time to collate them. will!
M23 Not heard since January in this form tout now I'm certain
that it appears in various disguises, M20 toeing the main one.
It clearly has an identity problem, and has odd habits but is
quit© predictable when it is going through one of its period®
of frantic activity. At least it's conservative over
frequencies.
KRH family After many years of operating we can now confirm
that this large CIA network has closed using morse. It
continues using Harris 39* a sophisticated mode of- which I
know next to nothing - probably from the same sites. I
believe its two Oxfordshire long-serving morse operators have
found their skills redundant. The question is, why, did it us®
morse for so many years without passing through a RTTY phase?
M26 Instead of the promised review of its entire activity
there follow as few example© of its activity in Septembers
5.9.95 0835 98 call, 98 §4133 91111' for 2 mins. # 98's again,.
(0838) 98 04133 11116 15 15622 (0840) 98 24188 18111 (0851) 98
24188 12112 (0852) 98 04188 15112 (0855) 90 24188 1QQQ9 (? 5f
IS
groups follow) then 98 34188 12191 98 04188 12192 98 04188
11112 (etc. to 0900)
This was all sent continuously on 3171kHz .
7.9 0500 now on 4438s 98 98 466 by 0530s 98 Q4Q44 11111 m
(0545) 98 Q42QQ 11111 81111 (0551) 98 12268 11111 81111 (0558)
98 10268 11111 91111 (carrier shifts about SOOHz LF for a few
seconds) (0620)98 1QQ25 11111 11111 (0625) 98 12924 Hill
11111 then back to 98 10225 etc. By 0805 it was sending 98
01444 21112 11111 and was off the air by 0900.
At 2000 on 8.9 it was on 4442kHz sending its never failing 98
followed by 28288 21111 11111. _ . .
On 9.9 at 1500 there it was again, this time on 5171 sending
98 01888 11111 91111 Between then and 1600 it sent these
'messages' s 98 Q 1888 11111 51111, 98 QllQfiJlllll 11111, 98
OllOQ 11111 21111, 98 Q1666 11111 21111, 98 01666 11118 81111,
98 01666 11119 81111 , 98 21*66 11111 91111, 98 Q1666 11111
21111. At 1601 it reappeared on 4442kHz. At one stage tor
almost an hour only the middle 5f group changed at all, and
even then very slightly for the last 4 figures were always
lill. By 1900 it was on 4439//3156kHz (Yes! They have two
transmitters ! ) sending 98 1Q88B 31113 11111.
My theories about this bizarre format will have to waits
meanwhile, have you any ideas?
BTV Back to relative sanity, BTV, along with YT have become
lazy again. Even the Monday 0600 slot has been inactive for
some time, YT is prone to this and has suddenly reappeared
again on its usual schedule. There is no correlation between
this operation and reported events in former Jugoslavia,
despite 'Langley Pearce' and his UDBA. BTV has very recently
been heard underneath the new U.S. data transmission on 4/56,
believed to be coming from Barford St. John.
i-jgp p dramatic event has recently taken place in the history
of this tediously uneventful station. The call is now
followed by a figure which changes along with its time-shared
frequency-hopping cycle. That crucial figure is 3 for 3314,5
for 5268, 7 for 6871 and 9 for 9186. It is rumoured that this
refers to the fined service band occupied, to the nearest MHz,
but what is the point?
ypg News at last! On Thursday 16th August I logged the first
recorded VDE message. It was sending its usual call at 1815 sot
6739, and returning to it at 1822 it was sending 5F pairs,
ending at 1826 with AR. It reappeared on Tue 19.9 0630 on 6627
with yet another message - 32 groups ending at 0640. Its
format has at last been established* WV VVV VW DE VDE VDE
for 5 mins, then, in this case, o » « 73 73 32 32 55 0820
Q8Q0 (then 32 pairs at 7.5 gr/min, short zero) AR
FDQ Very active still, with its strange 'messages’. Nil! be
covered more fully when space and time permit. The quantity on
19
information sent over very long periods, combined with its
extravagant use of frequencies make this one of the mast
apparently inefficient and pointless of stations.
P8K Active sending messages of 5F or 5L daily at 1900 & 2000
on 6960kHz. Keying speeds vary considerably . kle hope to
publish fuller details of all nos. stations when sufficient
background becomes available. Keep sending in your logs.
Just because they're not always published doesn't mean that
they're not useful in preparing future articles.
M34 A rare capture (thanks to Ian) of the "12345" station.
Heard with several short messages on 5th October at 1455 on
5197. Does it run a regular schedule? Could anybody check
this?
M35 Still around on random freqs sending its meaningless
strings of V's interspersed with K's. Hasn't anybody els©
heard this oddity?
M39 Another less common station appeared on 10th October at
0800 on 6690. The 3 & 5 figure station appears to b@ some
kind of 'control' transmission as it doesn't send messages in
the normal sense 9 however, it does use an 20* in this case
034.
STATION CHECK LISTS We plan to have these available
separately in clearer presentation. Meanwhile here's a couple
mores
H42 The ' KUL Brotherhood' (operated by ex-Eastern Bloc/Cuban
joint intelligence organisation , S0UD« A vast network.)
M43 6XH8 & C37A Germany/ Israel fixed link.
Me've decided to include these two, although morse plays only
a small part in their operation. Both officially don't exist.
Any information on these is especially welcome.
V3 Delete. This is now confirmed as the same station as V2,
although they use two voices. The number of 'finals' seems
arbitrary.
VI 5 N. Korean
V16 Chinese 11028kHz
Further additions to the check lists will be included in the
next issue - will they ever end?
SLNFB ' s (MX) - see also later.
"V M 5328 moved to 5274
"R” 4325 but not at present
M D" I thought all had gone but one recently Joined the S
& C cluster on 8494 for a while
20
. STATION FEATURE -
THE "TWO— TQNE" ST AXIOM (Ml) - see also Morse Supplement 2
The term, "two tone" is now something of a misnomer, for
transmissions are now only modulated (at a low level) with a
single tone of around 2kHz - the carrier is keyed. This
change appeared at about the same time as secondary
frequencies were dropped from the main network, so the
presence of the lower frequency tone could have indicated the
use of the lower parallel channel. Many features make this
station quite unique, not least being the fact that keying is
by hand and probably live. Mistakes are frequent, but always
corrected, and at least three individual operators can be
identified.
Scheduling is complex, as three separate networks operate,
each conforming to different scheduling rules, however they
all use the same general format, apart from the main network's
M end of month" 8 formats, which will be covered in a following
article* If we call these networks A, B & A is the main
network (which always uses the same three alternating ID's
throughout the year - 197 463 025 463) j 8 is the secondary
network which consists of regular ID's operating to a regular
schedule. C is a network that appears without warning and can
easily be confused with nil - no obvious schedule seems to
exist. 'A' always begins on the hour and shows a very strong
preference for 40 group messages - varying occasionally
between 39 and 42. Networks B & C tend to commence at any 5
minute interval within the hour - it dislikes M-OO and h+30 -
it favours 20 and 30 group messages, again, with occasional
slight variation* This peculiarity is unique amongst numbers
stations* Messages are always sent in all cases {paired
random 5fig groups), and repeat transmissions have never been
known to occur. Although network A's schedule conforms
strictly to month of the year, B changes its schedule
unpredictably , as it did between 24th & 29th September.
Network A operates six known transmissions weekly, and ID's
change according to which set of schedules are in use at a
particular time of year, i.e,
197 November, December, Januar y 9 February
463 March, April
025 May, June, July, August
463 September, October
The transmissions are as follows!
1 ~ Sunday 0700 2 ~ Tuesday 1800 3 - Tuesday 2000
4 - Thursday 1800 5 - Thursday 2000 6 - Saturday 1500
t\
5320//4630
"197" Frequencies? 1 - 6280// 5465 2 & 4
3 & 5 - 4490//386S 6 - 5810//6810
"463" Frequencies? I - 7434//6508 2 & 4 - 5474//4B57
3 & 5 - 5017//4155 6 - 6261//S1??
"025" Frequencies? 1 - 7340//6780 2 & 4 ~ 5280//4514
3 & 5 - 4905/ /39S7 6 - 6434// 5390
Transmissions 4, 5 & 6 usually operate the end of month
format, always on last Thursdays and Saturdays of each month.
Although, at present, only twelve of these 24 frequencies are
in use a parallel freqs are shown as they could return in the
future. These same ID's and freqs have been used since the
late 1970' s, at least.
Network B, too, seems to have been around for a long time. It
never used parallel frequencies and is quite independent of
the other two networks- This year v until week commencing Sat
29 Sept it operated the following schedule*-
91 108** Sunday 0835 5885 Usual Group counts SO
"150 w Tues/Thur 1705 6780 U6C§ 20
M 9i3" Tues/Hed 2010 4 4647 * UGCs 20
•*510** 1910 floating between Thu & Sun! 5250 UGCs 30
"OSS*’ Sat 1605 5350 UGCs 30
« 745 ** g a fc 1510 5475 UGCs 30
Mors exists some of which could be C's. There is scop® for
much more research on this station - volunteers welcome!
SLHFB News (MX) - continued
As usual 9 we are getting nowhere fast with uhese. *?
as mysterious and inscrutable as they were in the *•
kinds of wild theories abound, (especially from U»S.A« j but
none sound very convincing- Activity is much the same as
always^ with the regulars still going strong* and the
sporadics still popping up from time to time.
"C" & "8 M moved a few months ago from 5306 to 5154 - all their
other frequencies remain the same. /tlo ,
,# R‘* moved from 7452 to 3323 quite a while ago nowf stxll//3196
S, L W still on 3091 with its bad chirpl *
•* V s * still on 3174 f however 9 a new one is now on 5274 $ and J.,x&e
most V's has xrreqular spacing. Only the VTs exhibit this
peculiarity, and another an® is the occasional tendency to
modify the sending of the V. A couple of years ago, on *162 V
became . for a while, several times for hours on end.
Recently, V on 5274 has sent H or 5. Is this deliberate? The
regular — spaced V on 3174 always remain* the same.
Sporadic solitary SLHFM's includes S 6572 j C 6966, 5862? P
(the commonest, usually foe 3 mins on *- ®
hour ) 5862 , 6872 , 6966 , 4080 ,3170, 3838/ /3806
STATION FEATURE -
M32 - THE 14403 NETWORK
In November 1994 we received the most detailed logs to date of
a single station - amounting to 418 A4 size pages' (many thanks
to &&1 t in Hull) Covering the period 24.9.94 to 27.10*94
(with gaps) the logs were compiled between 0535 & 0930. The
network involved included 50 different 4~character callsigns,
eleven of which were constantly calling the remaining 38.
Over this period only 20 actual messages were received and
have all been recorded in full. I have found that analysing
these extensive logs has been a long but fascinating exercise.
In this article 1 propose to cover the general structure of
the network 9 including its callsigns, leaving the messages
proper for the next issue*
All transmissions were on a single frequency of 14403kHz and
were sent in hand-keyed morse at speeds varying from 3 to 25
w. p.m. Figures and letters were sent, including umlaut A, 0
and U« and also the CH (i.e. 4 dashes). This may or may not
indicate a German origin.
Transmissions consisted of particular callsigns calling
another, but different set of callsigns - 'callers' never
called other 'callers', nor did those called ever call one
another. Often calls were repeated many times, but replies
were never heard on this frequency. These calls were often
accompanied by short instructions, which took the form of Q
and Z codes. Host of these codes are unlisted in standard
lists, and of those that were, several were unlikely to refer
to the conventional meanings. @.g. QBE? - are you winding in
your aerial! For others, their normally accepted meanings
could not have applied in the particular context in which they
were used. Here's a list of all the codes used: (could anyone
help us on these?)
QRJ QSV QOi QTC QYT QSW QJS QTA QWP QLK QLX QRR QDKB QSA QBE
QRK im QRQ QSVC ZBC ZBY ZRC QTA QBE ZZA ZRD GMG ZZC ZLX QSB
Z0X ZB& ZRJ ZOL ZVL ZNH ZMU ZFB Z0Z ZVQ ZCW ZCU ZGI ZKA ZOO
ZAX QYD ZKH ZGT ZRP ZHG GCZ ZZC ZVT ZYH IFF ZFR ZIX ZGN ZFPP
ZXV ZII QSVC (in order first reported). QYT, QRJ, QSW, GRR, QSA
were always followed by single figures. e.g. QRJ4 of f icial Iv
this would mean ”X have 4 R/T calls to book** . QSA2C also
crapped up. Other procedural signals used included RPT RK BK
« OK K R81T ASN0 ANSO CASK. The twenty actual messages were
all preceded by QTC K (X have message for you), however the
8th message was preceded by several calls of NSMC NSMC NSMC DE
ZYDR ZYDR QTC N6F K
Over the period monitored, eight callers operated until 20th
October. These were, HRHG SGMG L97M LP9R 8105 ZYDR Z1C5 BXWZ.
Of these, HRHG and ZYDR made the majority of calls, yet by
30.9 HRHG had sent its last call. ZYDR predominated from then
until 20.10. From 21.10, an entirely new set of callers took
overt KSA7 (predominant) C7LN and L8JU. At the same time a
whole new set of callsigns replaced those that were being
cal led by the first eight callers. Monitoring finished six
days later™
Numbering the callers from 1-11 (HRHG-L8JU in the order given
above), the following table lists the 38 called stations, m
order first reported, and their associated callers. It does
not include the number of separate occasions
made .
that calls were
6D7U - 1
W6NC - 1,2
P20X - 1
5ZLN - 1
PLGW - 3
6RPZ - 6,8
nsmc - 5,6
S4MA - 6
N23K - 6
YEF2 - 9,10,11
WBNI - 10
F9XA - 10
(V«3»cV •(row, \«£V Vo
CM1U - 1,4
ZAND - 1
W7NC - 2
LWQV - 1
ZQWF - 3
WE0A - 3
OR I 2 - 6
VWB7 - 5, 6,7,8
WLHN - *
BZ3S - 9,10
VOMX - 10
762K - 10
7B2K ! )
$ WLHN may not be a callsign, and appears only in the
following uncharacteristic extracts
L22Y - 1
7WFK - 1,2
7FM5 - 1,2
31 DV - 1
NJQ5 - 3
VYB7 - 5
MSLW - 6
7AD3 - 6
7AD3 - 8 New set follows?-
X3Z1 - 10
QteSKB - 10 W0VP - 10
K7S2 - 10 (not same as
XXXXXX WLHN WLHN
etc .
VVV VV V VV (error signal)
XXXXXX WLHN WLHN 34678 DIPASFEN 5983 5918
34678 DIPASFEN 5983 5918 K This was followed by?
VVVVV.. 6RPZ 6RPZ 6RPZ DE ZYDR ZYDR K
Callsigns are not entirely randomly composed as they never
contain more than two figures and there seems to be a
preference for certain letters. Their structure is the same
as that of the so-called Non-commercial Beacons and this
station could be an example of a particularly busy one. These
can b® found all over the HF spectrum but are very rarely
reported to ENIGMA. In the next issue we will devote a
further article on M32 to the structure of the messages
i;nn«n;«*«*«*«*«**«***«****************!****!*****\
MORSE FORMAT QHflBI-M n2. **» had to °® Postponed until the
issue. We apologise for this delay. Thera was also a mistake
' t vary md, Sl2 actually u*» a 3 OR 4 fi»ur. d.code k.y,
not 2 or 3 as stated, as also does its voice counterparts.
Sorry, entirely my fault — M.G.
14
Letters to E.N.I.G.M.A.
A very wars welcome to isswm 9 . t>et me start by thanking all our
readers who sent in contributions to the newsletter. Also , may we take
this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy new year for 1998 .
Me have had a very good response to issue 8 and a great deal of
feedback* so much so that it is difficult to know where to begin.
Our opening letters concerm sites , and we start with Harold in
Southampton . He tells us that he has recently finished reading a book
about the German secret wartime radio beams which were used to guide
their bombers to their targets in Britain - These beams were of coarse
highly secret at the time amt went under the name Snickebein .
One of the transmitter sitess was located at Bredstedt Husum, near
Schleswig in Schleswig Holst&in whose co-ordinates are 54" 39 'N & 8~
57~E„ This is a site we have mentioned In previous issues as the home
of the numbers station DEA47„ In its day it was a huge place* with
enormous rectangular aerials on rotating steel platforms -
A further transmitting site for the German wartime beams was located
at Sieve (we spell it Clove for some reason, but it is famous for Ann
of Cloves) and I wondered if it too * might still be operational for
number broadcasts. It's certainly a possibility , This is very close to
the Butch border at Nijmegen at 51" 47 '5 N and 8" 8~B.
Staying on the subject of sites in Germany, Frits writes from
Switzerland with a few remarks concerning Mike's article on the END
sites in Germany. w s
- Kreuzholzimuscn is situated about 23 km MM of Munich.
+ - Stockdorf perhaps should read S tockel sdorf, 5km ¥
of Lubeck ( a place which would make sense anyway).
- Rosenheim is about 50km SW of Munich .
- If Mai sing, which I could not find anywhere, would
read Maisoch, it again would make sense, as it is
very close to Kreuzholzh&usen . #
- And just to be very accurate : it is " Tut zing 09 and
“ Heimerzh&im .
+ However, Stockdorf itself does exist ~ whereabouts is it ?
# This may be connected with a larger site to the S¥ (across the E52)
at i/ber acker. Ed notes.
Fritz also asks about a morse net with the callsign WZD, He tells us
that he believes it was ms airborne guidance system of the former DDR.
But it is still alive and well and shows up in many variants: USB,
Baudot 50, CM with varying length of groups and is always very fast „
Fritz would like to know more about MW, which has been on the air
since the early 1970 's. Can you help ?
Fritz ends by telling us that the suspect HEF is officially located
90km from Ms QTH near Zurich and gives SB+lOdB. Me are still very
keen to obtain more information about the purpose and location of HEF .
ACHTUNGiACHTUNGi - KGB's Fifth Han is Dead.
p
John Gaxneross, the wartime spy known as the Fifth Han, has died at
82. He admitted four years ago that he was the missing link in the
notorious KGB spy ring of Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and
Anthony Blunt.
Ca/ncross was the last survivor of the group known as The Five, who
were recruited as KGB agents at Cambridge in the 1330s. During World
Mar II he passed British military intelligence about Germany to the
Russians.
He died yesterday (Oct 8th 1995) &t the West Country cottage he shared
with his 39 year old American wife Gayle Br inker hoff.
Spy writer Nigel West, Tory HP Rupert Allason, had been editing
Gaxneross 's memoirs. He described his death as ' the end of an era in
espionage ' ENDS ENDS. Daily Nail 9th October 1995.
Ian in Perthshire asks a very interesting question and one which
should open up further discussion. How do agents send signals back to
base ? I don 't have a great deal in the way of answers on this* one,
hut with the huge volume of 'blind' (one-way) traffic sent each day
the agents or persons receiving the messages must use some methods to
either confirm safe receipt of information sent by the numbers station
or indeed send actual coded messages back .
In his book Intercepting Number Stations , Langley Pierce mentions the
use of burst transmitters . These us® a system of keying the morse
message onto a punched tape operated auto- keyer and then sending the
message back by playing the tape at a very high speed. The 'HQ' know
the time and frequency of the burst of transmission and record the
message, this is then slowed down to normal speed .and decoded. Burst
transmissions are also sometimes referred to as squirt transmissions .
Another possible method is to simply send the message back in morse at
a pre— determined time and frequency, this would still be coded into 5F
groups of numbers or letters . The only problem with doing this on a
regular basis is that you would attract attention from opposing
organisations who may attempt to track you down. It is not uncommon on
SM to hear hand-keyed morse sending short transmissions consisting of
numbers.
And on the subject of taking bearings on a very brief signal, the
following information was received from an ENIGMA member. He tells us,
V© had an experimental direction finding site at Pail ton (now a CAA eg?*-
monitoring station) an of f -shoot of nearby RAF Newbold Revel. The
question arose on how to take bearings of a very brief signal, such as
from a U— boat under certain circumstances. We used an Adcock antenna
system coupled to a standard (Misfponi ) goniometer . An electric motor
was coupled to the gonio rotor and a small bar magnet attached to the
edge of the rotor.
2G
An electromagnet was at t ached to the casing bo Umt when the fixed
magnet swept past the electromagnet, a pulse resulted that acted as a
trigger to set off a horizontal sweep of a twin beam oscilloscope with
a bit of persistence on its trace „ Beam Bo. 2 was just calibrated from
0-1 BO degrees . The audio signal from the receiver with BFO on was fed
to beam No. 1 and the result was a trace of the bearing, like -
It was interesting on short wave with the distorting effects of phase
fading, scatter etc . The gonio was later superseded with a four-valve
switching BF amplifier coupled to four Adcock antennas.
On the subject of whether one transmitter was being used for other
purposes, that was determined by feeding the audio signal from the
receiver to the vertical trace of an oscilloscope (the horizontal
trace was not used). A camera was attached to the ' scope face and 35mm
film run (smoothly, not by frames) across the signal. The resulting
film then showed (ideally) an oblong for a dash and a square for a
dot „ But individual transmitters had their own characteristics -
perhaps a small spark when the key was closed - that showed up as a
ripple ; or maybe when the key was lifted the signal had a bit of a
trail and so on.
Thus one could sometimes find a German transmitter on an Italian sub
by the pattern ; or see when the transmitter had been maintained or
altered. If the film was of any length it could be used for
identifying the operator .
Staying on a similar subject, a new member of ENIGMA from Cheshire sent
us some interesting information concerning the Lincolnshire Poacher
station . He has studied the station for some years and has used a
spectrum analyser to study the signal . One conclusion reached is that
two different transmitters may operate on the 14487 kHz frequency,
each transmitter having its own signature and therefore individually
iden tillable .
He goes onto inform ENIGMA that although there is a standard 200
groups in all transmissions , these are sometimes broken by groups such
as 00004 S 09000 which may indicate an " end of message* 0 point . Based
on this he informs us that traffic seems to increase at times of UK
Government international crisis, but, more specifically at different
times or places of problems .
For example During the 'preamble' to the Gulf war the LP. station
increased traffic but not during the collapse of Eastern Germany .
Staying on the subject of Lincolnshire Poacher* Andreas in Germany sent
us the results of further studies .
In issue 8 of ENIGMA s/e abound a matrix of the message groups used by
Lincolnshire Poacher ; this uas based on monitoring the 5F ID number
sent prior to the start of each transmission. The matrix displayed the
way each message group is sent across the period Monday to Sunday and
how many times it is transmitted between 10.00 & 22.00.
Taki ng this a step Further, Andreas has married up the first matrix
with frequency usage and this shows that what appears to be a random
selection of 3 frequencies from a potential usage list around 20 is in
fact far from the case. Each message group (e.g. A to I) do in fact
follow a complex frequency usage pattern , which- is directly linked to
the message group been sent.
For example if we take message F only it looks like this :
MON 14.00
TUB 15.00
NED 16.00
THU 17.00
FRI 18.00
SAT 10.00
SUN 22. 00
14487// 12603//10426
10426// 8464// 7755
10426// 7755// 6485
8464// 6485// 5422
8464// 6485// 5422
8464// 6485// 5422
schedule differs from all others.
You c an see from this just how complicated the operation is. First
Messages are broken down into 8 (5F) ID's; from this they are given a
sliding-scale style schedule and then to further complicate matters
the frequency usage is phased into the sliding-scale schedule .
Andreas sent us a great deal of information and included various
comments on the stations be hears. He joins us. in the debate
concerning the location of Swedish Rhapsody. We mentioned in our last
issue that this station has proved very elusive and little or no firm
information has come to light on its origins. Langley Pierce stated
in Ms book that Swedish Rhapsody was transmitted from Austria,
although we respect his comments ENIGMA believes the station is in
fact located in Poland, a view which Andreas shares. Information we
received from one of our contacts also firmly follows the Polish line
of enquiry.
Andreas also mentions the 3 Mote Station — which he tells me is enough
to make him afraid - even through the radio / tie says that the 3 notes
are not the same as the “Rein Anschluss unter diester Hummer “
announcement in the German telephone network , as reported in issue 4
of ENIGMA.
Finally, he tails us about an article he recently came across in an
old edition of “Tax-die Tagesxeitung" from 1882. The feature concerned
the Voice of America. „
** Sometimes the go vernmen t used the station { WoA) for secret service
projects. In 1986, when the Iran-Contra Scandal (the US supplied
weapons to Iran) 1 was the main topic, an. editorial was arranged with
the Iranian weapons dealer prior to broadcast, tMs was to prove that
their US counterparts really did work under US government
instructi ons .
A Georgian language service announcer was sacked ^ in 1985 after he
complained about the fact# that he had to play Georgian folk songs in
a rock music programme by command" .
ZB
Greetings now to John Griffiths^ 'Scanning * columnist sit the Short
Mmwe Magazine * . He sends ns some ness vie Tim in Ernst Sussex end Hens
in Germany* The information concerns low hand VHF and a transmission
heard at 14.00 UTC on 25th May, the frequency 47.170 MHz FM.
The station was heard in Fast Sussex sending words like Ho tosh,
Karmosh, Bedash, Kneed ash , Mullash, Uttush, Kilntash, Hadash, Harmush,
- und continued repetitively. A query on amateur packet elicited the
response from Hans in Germany that this is a numbers station broadcast
by the Hungarians and audible ' in Germany. Tim ^ asks whether WMF
activity is a new slant as numbers have been traditionally associated
with short wave.
Given the nature of E's travel distance, perhaps other members of
SMJGMA might like to try around the frequency.
$ e would welcome any comments concerning numbers transmissions heard *
outside the normal short wave bands; which leads me from FM to
Television* yes, you did read - that correctly . Dave in Shropshire sent
us several clipping s from the June and August issues of Television
Magazine '
"Mystery morse signals heard by several enthusiasts via various
satellites, particularly PAS-1 at 45~ ¥, were mentioned recently in
this column. Len Mooley (Bade) tells us he has received them vis
Eutelsat and Intelsat craft and that they are used for identification
purposes. With these craft they consist of similar length groups of
numbers followed by a unique label , ' PSSI STAS' with Intelsat and 'ST!
EU2 ' with Eutelsat. They are mentioned in the World Satellite
Almanac***
" Roy German (Raigate) has queried the morse (CM) signals carried by
PAS-1. John Locker checked this out and found the feed coded °~"&M ¥¥MS
NJ MB ** followed by m string of numbers. It's thought that this is a
coded weather broadcast originating from Mew Jersey. Morse has also
been noted at times via Orion".
Well, interesting common ts± - coded weather, and identification purposes -
the technology may have changed but the excuses seem rather familiar I
- comments as always very welcome,
A quick hello to our good friend Geoff in Bridgend - He mentions that
MPL at 13.20 on 10180 now seems to have disappeared , Anyone heard it
elsewhere ?
Please remember to send in your contributions, letters and logs to
arrive by February 3th 1988.
Our address is; ENIGMA NEWSLETTER,
17-21 Chapel Street,
Bradford, West Yorkshire,
BD1 5DT ENGLAND.
And greetings also to regular contributors. Alms in Solihull Mast
Midlands, Jacques in Amstelveen , Marcel in France, Mr T.N.Joy in
Kerala India, and everyone else who has taken the time to write to us.
G rooting now to Riato in Finland, A sent in a fine selection of logs and
information. He replied to our requests for historical information
about the Alpha-Phonetic stations and reports hearing ESI in 1979, SPA
was the second station to be noted in 1980/82 and noted other call-
signs appearing one by one during the 1980 "s . FTJ was the newest
station to appear and was first heard in 1990/91.
Risto also mentions that FLU was heard with messages in the early
1980 's but no longer seems to be active. Listening in Finland seems to
give different reception conditions to those in the United Kingdom.
The ■ Russian Counting Station (S14) - this takes the form of a
continuous loop which plays for hours on end — was noted in Finland as
early as 1/L30. UXH on 4328 kHz, this signal does not usually reach the
UK until the dark path in the early evening. Readers may note that the
loop tape can now be heard read by either a male or female, at the
time of going to press it was noted on new frequency 4040 kHz.
Risto also reports good reception of the 'Cheita ' station (S12) which
is at present operating on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at
21.00 (ftc on 5180 kHz. Unlike its other voice counterparts this
particular one does carry messages occasionally.
Please see station news for a full list of the numbers spoken by this
station, comments welcome.
Geoff in Wymondham, Norfolk asks if we know of any cassette tapes of
various computer & RTTY tone signals which can be used for fast
identification , San any readers help ? I am only aware of two myself »
the first is the Audio Guide to Shortwave Sounds from Interproduots
which was featured on page 35 of issue 8? also there is a very
comprehensive CD of modulation types produced by Joerg K1 ingen fuss.
I will quote from the publicity handout, " This unequalled product is
based on 25 years of experience in the radio monitoring and publishing
field. Two standard audio compact discs running 2.5 hours cover a
total of 71 electromagnetic emissions. Compiled from Digital Audio
Tape (DAT) recordings made recently by a professional monitoring
service in Europe; these CDs allow rapid access to the typical sound
of all conventional and exotic radio communication systems found
nowadays on shortwave.
Connect your CD player to state-of-the-art decoding hard and software
such as UNIVERSAL and MAVECOH teleprinter decoders and practice tuning
these professional teleprinter and radio paging systems for easy
analysis and display. Synchronization is perfect as a result of digital
recording techniques that prevent any play-back speed deviations
normally experienced with analogue recordings such as compact
cassettes” .
If any readers would like more information the address of K1 ingen fuss
Publications is ; Hagenloher Str. 14, D-72070 Tuebingen Germany.
Phone + + 49 7071 62830 or Fax * + 49 7071 600849. I am not aware of
any UK distribution for the product, but if anyone is, we will be very
happy to publish details in our next issue. Thanks.
50
Hallo now to regular contributor , Peter in Saffron Malden. Peter
reports heavy traffic from the English language counting stations
(Cynthia) which is busier now than for some time. The result of all
these extra transmissions seem to have put pressure on the systems and
quite a few mistakes have taken place.
* Recent problems include sudden off air endings, resulting in the whole
transmission having to start again (even though it had been rtinning
for 20 minutes); on other occasions the warm up has continued well
past the hour with messages starting at 25 minutes past the hour .
Another strange, event occurred on July 2nd; Cynthia was weak during
the warm up on 9070 kHz at 16.08, but on the same frequency and quite
strong I could hear two BBC transmissions mixing with each other, one
was the World Service and the other was an “ English By Radio
transmission which the BBC broadcasts for those learning English. Both
of these imve strong outlets in the 31m BC hand, a Fern hundred kHz up
the band. I am sure this was not due to a problem with my receiver
front end - I found the same effect on my Lowe HF125 and also on a one
valve receiver.
Also, there was another mishap in this transmission. During the warm
up the ‘’call 275” stopped on several occasions with the tones and
- count " 63 not starting until 16.17. The same effect of transmitter
mixing on 9070 kHz was also noted on the July 30th transmission.
Traffic seems to have increased considerably from around April 20th
following the bomb explosion in the United States.'
Quick note to Richard in Buckinghamshire. Thank you for your recent
contributions — these will be held over to our next issue.
Nike in Rent regularly sends in “heaps” of logs and comments and most
recently some cassette tapes of both number stations and odd noises he
has heard. Thank you for all your contributions, which are really
appreciated. Mike also noted considerable increases in traffic around
April 29th from the Counting Stations and also the Alpha Phonetic set
up, even CIO burst into life with a 12 group message.
More recently Mike comments on further increases in traffic levels
from Alpha - Phonetic stations around the time of the defections of
high ranking officials from Iraq to Jordan.
Mike also comments on our section “Things That Go Buzz”, and has been
working on some of the signals we mentioned - using a spectrum
analyser on such things as the Crackle and cur now famous Faders !
Staying on the subject of the Middle East, Brian in West Sussex wn tes
our book review for this issue. “By Way of Deception " tells the story
of the “Making and unmasking of a MOSSAD Officer” . Brian is also on
the trail of the faders and mentions another signal which readers may
have come across.
Brian says — when I first read your description of the faders, I was
thinking of a slightly different signal I had heard on the bands,
which consists of a similar signal.
31
This is of a shorter duration which appears to fade in strength, hut
in fant is loving down the band about 2 kHz at a tine xn switched
steps.
The sound is similar to that Bade by a grasshopper/cricket and has a
s^wTr, har%her n 0te than that of a fader. The signal appears to hare
"phase” - like the effect used on late 60 s-70 s pop records. The
signal will be transmitted on 9428 , then appears to **
volume. Retuning the receiver however reveals that the % Xi ®l 1
jumped up or down the band. The move will be exactly 1,2,3 or 4 kHz
from the original frequency.
This sequence is then repeated, with the signal during to either
another new frequency, or returning to its original frequency.
Brian monitored the station on 6 August at 23.45 UK The following
frequencies were used *
9428 - 9432 - 9430 - 9428 - 9432 - 9428 Any readers
9425 - 9422 - 9426 - 9425 - 9422 - 9426 csmments welcome.
Thank you, Brian., for all your regular contributions and logs.
Hello to Hans- in Trier, Germany. Hans mentions the use of 4740 kHz
for the regular Ready Ready voice and MCM transmissions plus Drums S
Trumpets station, in recent months this frequency has become crowded
with the use of 4739 kHz by RAF Volmet Air Radio , which moved to this
frequency earlier in the year.
However in September RAF Volmet moved again, this time to 4715 kHz;
can any readers explain the move H could it be due to interference?) .
At least the numbers transmissions are fairly a* ear again .
On the subject of numbers transmissions mid interference - some
stations seem to use regular frequencies for years on end (Swedish
Rhapsody) while others seem to use more random selections (3 Note
Oddity). Two readers reported the same incident recently, Mike jm
K ent and Mike in Avon both told us about a recent 3 - Bote Oddity
transmission .
The transmission on 5817 (August, 21.19 BTC) was causing ■ problems for
air radio traffic, one user referred to her (3 Mote Oddity) as that
"bloody woman". J have also heard HSB30 Berne radio bleeping th
regular, transmission from "Magnetic Fields " on 6645 kHz, needless to
suy she did not move !
That 's all for this time round. Remember, we appreciate your letters
l^jt.Ldlog.ror miom .Mo b s hmld bo oont to our «il«
address.
THANK YOU & PLSASS KEEP IB TOUCH - THIS IS YOUR BSBSLMTTSR
It is with regret that we must report the ° f
Patcham Brighton. Den was a regular contributor to ENIGMA and keen
numbers station monitor „
32
Things That Go Buzz In The Night
Selcoae along to nnotMter of oar pages, lota of the old friends
mre still around bat: a few new ones bare appeared to heap them
company. Without doubt our all time favourite is the Bummer on 4625
kBm. In the last iasme me appealed for more information md in
addition I also wrote* a short piece about it in reply to a question in
’' Common test ion” joamssl of the British DI Club.
Just after this appeared more information arrived , I should really go
back to the Cold War days when I had some information that the Buzzer
was tr ansm itted from m» area just outside the Polish border in White
Russia. Last year while speaking to Simon Mason , he informed me that m
reliable con tact (who will remain very nameless.) had told Simon that
the transmitter was situated to the South Bast of Moscow,, this
information had been obtained using some equipment not available to
the likes of you and" I /
In the last few weeks* we have received further confirmation which
backs up the information Simon had received. The transmitter would
seem to be situated im an ■ area between Moscow and the toms of Pens®
which is about SOD mile south east of Moscow.
If you look on a map you will find Minsk (capital of White Russia)
Moscow and Penza form & triangle (this will help you to find Penza).
We are still nmcertmin if more thms one location is used (two
transmitters do operate) but we are beginning to make soae progress on
this particular Buzz S
Just before going to press we have noted the Buzzer making a few
strange noises on 462S kHz , on odd occasions the signal seems to
d rama tically change from its regular tone into a more random buzz -
this lasts for a few minutes before the resumption of “normal
service“. Please report if you hear anything odd ! * a** th*. A»m «- .
Another old friend is still active on 3757 kHz and 5450 kHz. 3757 kHz
is allocated to Amateur & Fixed/Maritime services, C&st issue f w® asked
if any readers were is fact involved in the RSGB Intruder Match - not
only did we receive a reply, but it sms from the mam that runs it,
Chris Cummings in Cheshire. Perhaps you could help us with some of our
Buzz items.
ms sosro
This seems to have reappeared after an absence from the air and can
now be heard most evenings on 4105 kHz, signal strength is variable.
THE BACKWARD MUSIC STATION
This is very active mi present and recent evening frequencies have
included 6695 kHz M 6755 kHz, both carrying different signals.
Recently we noted 3 transmitters operating at the same time sending
different signals.
33
In the I mat issue of ENIGMA ee staked if this station any harm any
connection with a system called Lincospex , we received the following
very detailed reply froa Richard in Andover.
L in coapex is an abbreviation for LIMear COMPression & Expansion. It
processes the signal at an audio level. An audio in— band carrier at
about 3 kHx is frequency nodulated at a rate dependant on- the -
amplitude level of the signal ,
The signal itself is then passed through a limiter, compressing- its
amplitude variations . This has the advantage that the transmitter can
be run at a sore efficient level, and that the received signal at the
distant terminal can be limited , thus reducing impulse noise etc .
At the receive terminal the 3 Ms carrier is filtered out, passed--
through a discriminator, and amplified. This s.ignal is then used to
control a variable gain amplifier through which the incoming audio- is -
routed. This restores the original amplitude variations. The 3 Ms
carrier has been filtered out and this small gap in the audio does not ■
degrade it to any appreciable amount.
The system has been in use commercially and on the Be fence
Communication Network. A typical BCE ISM signal on the MF band' may- -
have Multi channel voice frequency telegraph data on the MSB and &
speech channel on the LSB. In recent years speech is less likely to be
heard on BCM, the security of satellite being preferred. Other met hods
to digitise the speech to 2400 baud bit stream, encrypt it, de-
multiplex it to a number of slower baud rate channels suitable for
transmission on SF.
Well, I as not certain what the Backward Music Station is, } but it mors
often than not sounds like feedback from some Arabic radio telephone
station ?i More information ms always appreciated.
WE CLICKER
This is a new sound to these pages, but like most odd things is rather
random in nature, I have hoard it recently on 4313, 5081 § 8758 kHs.
It makes a strong clicking sound, the sound is similar to that made by
some computer keypads, which click to confirm a depression of a key as
been registered. Goes on for hours - - try evenings. *■ Frequency choice
may be random.
THE CRACKLE
After a period of silence this seems to be motive again around 3484
and 3583 Miss near Shannon Volmet station. Try evenings. ‘
SOT* GRASSHOPPER
Please see our Letters Page for full details,, this signal moves at- 2,
3 or 4 kHx steps. Heard around 9428 Ms late evening®- * -■
We would very much appreciate comments logs and information concerning-
items featured in our BUZZ pages, I hope you enjoy oar feature on
Faders which appears on the following pages. Thank you to everyone who
has contributed to this section.
34
FADERS(XFI
You may have read in a previous issue or two of 'Buzz’ my fascination with
these odd sounds - which we have entitled Faders. My previous attempts to
describe them seen to have been unsuccessful !
But. not down-hearted I shall try again.
My best suggestion is to check out all the frequencies I have
given and then try and find the common signal.
How do Faders behave ? Well here are a few tips.
1) They are on and off air very often.
2) They vary in length from a few bursts of 8.5 seconds to
transmissions which can last at least 30 minutes.
3) Faders are transmitted in FM mode - and therefore sound very
rough in nature.
4) Faders glitch every. 8.5 seconds throughout a transmission and
once you recognise the mode you will find them on lots of
frequencies.
5) They are called Faders because they fade to a lower signal
strength and then reappear again.
The following is a list of all the frequencies I have monitored
since the last issue of ENIGMA.
3190 4020 5095 6507 7498 8055 9125 10480 11102 13340
3211 4048 5107 6797 9245
3297 4460 5145 6826
3820 4477 5315 6878
3827 4495 5330 6940
4563 5470 6990
4845 5648
4935 5789
4945 5847
35
>
How do we know that Faders are not just another noise which is
from a recognised transmission mode ? Wei 1, they do not appear on
The Audio Guide to Short Wave Sounds and they are also absent
- from the Klingenfuss Compact Disc of Modulation Types, which,
contains 71 electromagnetic emissions and is based on 25 years
of monitoring experience.
This evi dence would therefore suggest that they are either a mode
which is considered ’secret' or they are some fornUransmission
which has eluded the previously authorities on the subject !
When am I likely to hear Faders ? They seem to be active for most
of the time. I have heard them in the mornings in the 6. 9 & 11
mHz regions, they also appear in the afternoon and right through-
out the eveni ngs into the night on the whole range of
frequencies, some for • short periods and others for much more
lengthy transmissions.
Due to the 8.5 second 'glitch' in every transmission and the
constant on- and- off air behaviour it is difficult to detect how
many transmitters are operating at any one time, however .if you
are quick on the button and perhaps have a digital read-out
receiver, it is possible to try and monitor lots of than - my
best effort was 9 frequencies in the space of 60 seconds.
It is also interesting to note the strange FM mode used, this is
a wide signal of about 10 kHz. however, the Faders are capable of
sending in AM. one morninq I was tuni ng along the bands and
detected a number of frequencies sending out a 1 kHz AM tone,
after a few minutes of noting these I concluded that they were
all Fader frequencies. Meanwhile other Faders were providing a
normal service.
A final observati on from Bri an in Crawley. He tells me that he
stayed on a Fader frequency for over 1 hour. and. although the
Fader was not operational . it did send a single 8.5 second burst
at 00. 15. 30 & 45 minutes past the hour. This would suggest that
the equipment is still tuned while not in full use !
I would be interested to find out more about these odd stations,
certainly the transmitter site must be quite extensive, also due
to the very distinctive nature of the mode used I would suggest
that it is only used by one organisation operated by a single
country . Signals are certainly strong even in the afternoon ,
which suggests that the station* transmitters are quite close to
the United Kingdom if not within it.
5C,
Simon Mason Writes
A warm welcome to issue nine and the dark nights of Winter,
something of a far cry from my 10 day trip to The Netherlands and
Germany: I had intended to visit the town of Husum in Northern
Germany to have a look at the origin of the old DEA47
transmissions.
The weather was so hot that the drive would have been very
unpleasant, so I did not travel too far from my base in the Dutch
province of Drenthe. However. I did manage some limited
monitoring in Germany but did not find reception too different
from my home QTH in Kingston-upon-Hull .
One station that was appreciably stronger was the German Lady
'000 000’ ENDE (G7) broadcast on Saturday 29th July at 08.00 UTC.
The YL repeated 522 522 522 1 then 1438 205 1438 205 and into 5F
arouDS . The 05.30 UTC Kilo Whisky broadcast on 12314 was much
fainter which was quite surprising. The Russi an Han (S7) was
heard with strong signals on 13553 at 19.40 UTC with 519 519 519
000. Also, two Counting Stations in English were quite audible
at 19.00 on Monday on 9219 and 5153 (not //). All Lincolnshire
Poacher transmissions were clearly audible as were those from the
Nancy Adam Susan family.
Now onto my main features, this time a look at VLB and an update
on the German 2 Letter Stations.
VLB (E10)
Monitoring VLB can be rather tedious. Most of the time the
alleged M05SAD station sends "VLB 2" at 45 minutes past the hour
then leaves the air after a few minutes. However , on occasions
transmissions can become irregular and unusual.
The date of May 2nd is a good example. At 21.45 the usual VLB 2
marker was bei ng sent and went off at the usual time. but. this
was followed at 22.00 by a rare event, a message.
In this case the YL repeated "VLB" for a couple of minutes and
then started a 42 group message in the same manner as the
majority of the other phonetic alphabet stations. A short way
into the message the broadcast was abruptly terminated' and the
station was silent unti 1 22.14. The message did riot continue but
a short "string” was sent. "VLB14D31". This conti nued unti 1 22.35
when it in turn went off and the usual 2 *
suffix marker returned at 22.45. No-further departures from the
normal schedule were noted duri ng the night. ^
37
I have to say that quite a few times I have been caught unawares
by this station - with messages (not strings) being sent at non-
standard times. For example. I tuned into a VLB frequency at
23 40 and 5L groups have been in progress which have invariably
been stopped before the "End of Message” terminator. At 23.45 the
* ”VLB 2" marker followed with the same signal strength. I am
unsure whether on these occasions another stations message is
being sent over VLB's frequencies (which sometimes happens), or
VLB has short messages that can begin and end on a somewhat "ad-
hoc" basis.
At least I have have on tape a recording of a "kosher" VLB call-
up and message to prove to myself that they do happen.
Strings of mixed letters and numbers are much more common and
here are a few examples heard recently starting with an unusual
2 suffix string.
A 2 means "no message" . so to include a 2 as the first suffix in
a message is unique, at least in my own records .
May 17th
01.40-03.00
VLB24T12F36
May 17th
20.00-20.40
VLB18L36T46
May 17th
21.45-23.45
VLB2
May 18th
00.45-
VLB2
May 18th
01.45-03.45
VLB13F16T44R46
May 18th
03.45-
VLB + Message
May 18th
04. 45-
VLB2
May 19th
All Evening
VLB2
May 23rd
19.45-
VLB14B88
On another occasion at 16.45 "VLB 2" was being sent on 7605 and
13921 . At 16.50 it went off. but on 13922.5 another faint MOSSAD
transmission could be heard. This is a similar effect to that
experienced with the strange broadcast on 17502.5 of the station
"William Susan Peter" at 12.00 UTC which is in U.S.B. off the
edge of a Tunisian broadcast station.
3 &
Before leaving the subject of VLB, I noticed a very interesting
piece in the "Contact" magazine of the World DX Club which
originated in the HCJB DX programme. I will present it as it
appeared -
ISRAEL - "Israel Defence Forces Radio is currently audible on
8127 kHz U.S.B. Try evenings in Europe. Rosentheim on the
Internet reports that the transmissions are unintentional . There
is a diplomatic station VLB near Tel Aviv on 8127 kHz that
transmits for 5 minutes at 45 minutes past each hour. A strong
AM transmitter on 1287 kHz relaying the Defence Forces Radio
station is close by. The transmitter and antenna of the
diplomatic station are left tuned up but the transmitter switched
off however, the AM transmitter is energising the tuned circuit
and causing the spurious radiation on 8127 kHz"
The term "diplomatic" is that of Rosentheim and not shared by
ENIGMA !
Editors' note-, the carrier wave would have to remain on 8127 kHz
other-wise it would be technically impossible !
Simon also sends ENIGMA the latest information on the German 2-
Letter stations. (G16). These stations operated by the German
B N D have changed considerably since the re- unification of
Germany and the end of the cold war. The 2-Letter stations were
active through-out the evenings in Europe sending regular traffic
every thirty minutes on short hop frequencies in the 3 4 5 & 6
mHz area of the band. In addition to this large set-up they also
operated stations DFC37 & DFD21 on exclusive frequencies in the
3 & 4 mHz area between 15.00 & 22.00 daily for many years.
And if that was not enough Papa November also operated daily
sending short messages every six hours on a further four
excl usi ve f requenci es .
Most of the traffic heard at present would seem to be aimed out-
side the immediate area. Since the demise of DFC37/DFD21 and Papa
November very few of the other German 2-Letter call -signs now
remain active.
Stations active at present are CD. GK. KW, HK, WL, JW. & SB in
the German Language and MD and AU in English.
39
The following is a list of the most active stations, but of
course others are still around on a less regular basis.
TIME CALL MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
00 00 CD 11545 11617 12314 12210 11545 ? ?
12092
11.00 CD ? ? ? 20350 ? 20240 20350
05.30 KW 12314 12314 12314 12314 12314 12314 12314
09.30 KW 16414 16414 16414 16414 16414 16414 16414
14.30 KW ? 16414 14945 ? ? ? 14945
23.30 HK ? 8063 9325 9040 9040 9325 9040
23.30 SB ? 11545 10740 10500 ? 10177 9450
1 also suspect HK is also daily at 16.00 (try THU 18195).
Finally. MD (English language) (E16) is on Sunday at 09.00 &
13.30 on Tuesday and Thursday around the usual 11 & 12 MHz
frequencies (see stati on news for full list of frequencies).
4o
STATION FEATURE -
In issue 8 we promised to take a more detailed look at spy tone stations, or
Polytones as we would like to call them. Although ENIGMA targets voice and
CW/MCW transmissions which do not need specialised decoding equipment we feel
that Polytones are of interest to our readers.
The transmissions fall into three main types and we feel sure you will have
come across these if you regularly scan the short wave bands.
1) HIGH PITCH POLYTONE TRANSMISSIONS . (XPH) this particular style of
transmission likes to stay hidden and will often start at odd times such as
20 minutes past the hour. The signal is AM - very strong steady carrier - the
transmission starts with a repeating sequence of tones, this is likely to
translate along the lines of the identification and number of messages to
follow, such as 487 487 487 1 - 487 487 487 1 - which goes on for several
minutes. This is followed by a rapid burst of one number, probably 0000000000
then a faster tone message, consisting of signle 5F groups. This can vary in
length from a minute or so to over 5 minutes or longer, at the end another
rapid burst follows 0000000000 and the transmission ends.
There is no pattern to the communications (Tike the Russian & English Man
transmissions) although spy nunber frequencies are often used but it appears
that schedules are short-lived and frequencies discarded after use.
Transmissions are often on high frequencies but a few do drop down as low as
5 MHz. The transmissions are difficult for non -recipients to decode because
it is not known winch tone equates to which number as only the circuitry in
the machine would reveal this ( which adds a further dimension to the problem
of trying to break into the messages) .The lowest tone sent always corresponds
to spaces . so groups can be easily be counted by listening to the rhyth^n of
the message. Messages are infrequent because high grade agents only receive
messages occasionally in order not to compromise thei r position.
2) LOW PITCH PQLYTONE TRANSMISSIONS , (XPL) these may not belong to the same
family as those described above, although we cannot be certain. The low pitch
polytones tend to operate on lower frequencies around 4 5 & 6 mHz,
the signal consists of a very slow pattern of changing tones sent at a low
almost moaning pitch, unlike the fast AM tones of the first station we
described. It is difficult to describe the operation of these stations which
are again random in both time and frequency of transmission, however I feel
we are safe to suggest that they have a similar purpose to their more up-beat
relatives.
3) THE SIX TONE STATIONS. (X6) these have been around for many years
(certainly since the mid - 1970’s) and have remained unchanged through-out
their lifetime. Still yery acti ve the transmissions consist of a series of six
tones sent over about 3 seconds, and repeated continuously for 5 - 15 minutes.
There are a nunber of different sequences sent, but one particular ’melody’
seems more favoured than others . The signal is always strong and uses A.M:
These factors . along with their habit of using frequencies and - times at
random appearing at 5 minute intervals within the hour - are shared in common
with numbers transmissions believed to be KGB/GRU controlled.
41
Several schools of thought exist as to the precise purpose of these
transmissions, the presence or absence of a particular ’melody' may in itself
indicate to the recipient a particular status or message. Alternatively, the
individual notes may each represent numbers - as with polytones, i.e. a
repeated 6 figure group, the tones are possibly the times for tuning in for
* a message, such as, 060900 could be 09.00 on the 6th of this month, usual
frequency. \
No regular schedules have been found for the Six Tone stations, nor have any
favoured frequencies, however, there is evidence of repeats being sent on ,
different frequencies within the same hour.
So, what evidence do we have that the tone stations are espionage related ?
As we said earlier the Six Tone stations may well indicate that traffic is to
follow, the proper messages consist of repetitive tones in a cycle then a
continuous tone before many fast tones. The continuous tone then resumes after
the end of the rapid tones and the cycle continues briefly before going off
the air. Some believed however that the tones printed in morse on a special
tape which was dusted with powder to reveal the messages. Others believed that ,
the light box had a replay facility to light up the numbers again as it
appeared to some that the tones were transmitted too quickly to be written
down. Opinion was divided. But all (or most) was to be revealed during the !
case of Hugh Hambleton.
Hugh Hambleton was a Canadian professor who had worked for NATO whilst working j
for the KGB, he was jailed in London in 1982. Hambleton was one of the first
agents to be equipped with a device which went onto be known as the Hambleton ,
tone decoder (or luminaire).
The luminaire was shown to Bambieton during training in a flat in Moscow in
1977 but due to its sensitivity it was not possible to get it to him through
a dead letter box. Instead it was delivered by a live drop in Canada. A man
drew up beside Hambleton 's car at the appropriate time and place and passed -
a car battery to him. Hambleton took it home and after removing the battery
case found the device. The luminaire or light box was grey. 9 inches long, 6
inches wide and 2 inches deep. After attaching the equipment to a short wave I
receiver he was ready to tune to the transmission, as the tones were .received (
each number behind a glass front was illuminated and he was able to write down j
the numbers in blocks' of 5 for decoding using a one-time pad or gamma pad as \
the RIS calls them. ;
A government witness at his trial from 6CHQ called Mr A said that the
luminaire was made in Russia and nothing like it existed in the West.
The luminaire was only issued to highly prized agents who would not or could ;
not learn morse or their living conditions made its reception unwise. They ,
would be issued with a luminaire and it could receive messages in bad
conditions regardless of static, it was also more secure as it was silent, the
tones were fed through a connector in the ear socket and the agent could
listen via another earpiece. The drawback to the equipment was that its <
presence screamed espionage and was sufficient to condemn, as it did in »
Hambleton ’s case.
A photograph of a luminaire can be found in the book "The Intelligence War"
by Colonel William Kennedy. I regret we are unable to reproduce it due to
copyright.
Our special thanks to D for his help with this feature. J
4L
ENIGMA BOOK REVIEW
BY WAY OF DECEPTION - VICTOR OSTROVSKY & CLAIR HOY
St. Martins Press - 1990
Subtitiled "The making and unmasking of a MOSSAD Officer". This book tells the inside
story of the Israeli secret service - An organisation reputed to be the most secretive in the
world.
Expecting this to be the usual heavy mix of political intrigue and indigestible government
Hetaik I was pleasantly surprised to find the book written in a light anecdotal style, which was
highly readable.
The book is divided into three sections, with sections one and two relating to the author's
training at the Prime Minister’s Supper Residence just outside Tel Aviv, which is in reality the
Midrasha - the MOSSAD Training Academy. In these two sections you are taken through the
classroom studies, out onto the streets for practical tests and to special training areas where
firearms and hostage rescue skills are taught. Throughout the book, the author explains how
he became increasingly disillusioned with the "Twisted ideals and self-centred pragmatism" he
encountered, and leaves you in no doubt as to the ruthlessness of the MOSSAD.
Section three takes a look at past political events in the Middle East and explains how the
MOSSAD was influential in changing the outcome of these situations. A look at some of the
Chapter titles "Carlos", Exocet", Helping Arafat", gives some idea of what to expect, and
although much of the politics went way over my head, the stories are fascinating and well told.
I particularly liked "Operation Moses", the story of a tourist resort, 75 miles north of Port
Sudan, set up in 1984 as a MOSSAD front to resale and evacuate thousands of black Jews
from the war and drought in Ethiopia.
At the end of the book are a series of appendices - a strange collection of documents including
a layout of the MOSSAD Academy, the author's MOSSAD Pay slip (a printed reconstruction
- not a photograph of facsimile!), and an AMAN Questionnaire on Syrian Military
Preparedness.
There are two references to the use of radio by the MOSSAD which occupy only a few lines
in the book. One refers to the use of a computerised non-stop station broadcasting five letter
groups, while the other mentions the use of burst communications for agents sending
messages back to the MOSSAD. One interesting claim made by the author, concerns the size
of tiie MOSSAD organisation. He claims that only 30 to 35 Case Officers were employed
world-wide, (as compared to the KGB's equivalent at the time of some 15,000), which
conflicts with the accepted view of the MOSSAD as being a veiy large organisation.
This brings me to my final point. The book offers & fascinating insight into the life of a secret
service employee. A candid expose of everything you would expect from such a lifestyle - but
it struck me as being just a little too good to be true. Enjoy the book and revel in the story
telling. But remember, in this shadowy world of deceit and disinformation, nothing is EVER
as it appears to be
SL
Brian Rogers
43
PRESS RELEASE
TURNING UP THE HEAT - Ml 5 AFTER THE COLD WAR
By Lany O'Hara
Published by Phoenix Press
Price £5 (+ £1 P&P) ISBN 0 948984 29 5
Through diligent investigative research of recent events and critical analysis of the Secret
State's media throughput, the author exposes for the first time MIS's attempts to secure a
post-cold war role by turning up the heat in domestic 'extra-pariimentary* politics. Turning up
the Heat raises some disturbing questions about MI5's recent operations:
* Does recent targeting of UDA supporters in England and Scotland indicate MIS's
intention to instigate a possible UDA mainland campaign in the future with its agents,
as has happened in Northern Ireland in the Brian Nelson case, should the ceasefire not
hold?
* Is MIS attempting to 'forge links' between Northern Irish loyalists and English
fascists to this end?
* Why were two English IRA recruits - one of them well known to Special Branch and
MIS as an anti-fascist - apparently 'allowed' to plant bombs on trains after being filmed
on video planting a bomb outside Karrods? Do these cases - and similar targeting of
Animal Rights activists, Scottish/Welsh republican's - indicate a widening of MIS's
range of targets?
* Harold Covington, a leading U.S. Nazi, was involved in the setting up of Combat-! 8
in Britain It is revealed here for the first time that he may be an FBI asset. If so this
raises disturbing questions about FBI collusion with MIS. Are MIS seeking to
introduce a UK equivalent to the FBI's COINTELPRO operation into Brit ish politics?
* Does the alarming increase in racial attacks and fascist intimidation of the Left in
Leeds have anything to do with MIS's attempts to muscle in on regional police work
(including that of Special Branch)? If secret state infiltration of both fascists and
anti-fascists is as widespread as evidence suggests, could Leeds be MIS’s tert-ground
for political intoxication - as practised by the French in Algeria and later by the Italian
secret state?
4 Are MI5 trying to turn CIS into a 'pseudo-gang' controlled directly by their agents?
Are they trying to take out' the original leadership with victimisation, selective arrests
and entrapments in preparation for this?
* As O'Hara 'outs’ yet another fascist/ state-connected agent provocateur in the Green
movement, can we expect more operations against eco-activists when the Criminal
Justice Bill comes into force?
Larry O'Hara is a Sequent contributor Lobster magazine and is author of A Lie too Far and At War
with the Truth (Whitby: Mina Productions, 1993].
For further enquiries ring Voicemail 0891-669900, dial 10189 after prompt and leave your details.
Alternatively write to Larry O'Hara, BM 4769, London, WC1N 3XX
Distribution: Send £6 cheque payable to Lany O'Hara at the address above
. 4-4
<*■
THE CZECH STATIONS - Part Two
Before we begin, a couple of corrections are in order. In the
previous article the reference to S13 being the only voice
station operating in the 1970' s should read 53. In the
following paragraph the reference to SB should read §12., and
similarly, three paragraphs later. Anyone reading that
article carefully would have noticed those errors - they were
entirely my (M.G. ) fault, and I apologise for any confusion
they may have caused ■
Continuing our tour of the Czech Numbers World brings us to
perhaps the most well-known of all the Numbers Stations, Ok*
(M6/S16). This began its life as S15 - Simon Mason's "Rapid
Dots"; it also had a Morse version, MBA, which was often
reported by the Americans on 7413kHz, probably because this
freq. was used by U.S. pirates.
These earlier versions of QLX were last reported in 1991,
after which the present versions began. The are are several
important differences between Langley Pierce's and Simon
Mason's reporting of S15, which have not yet been resolved.
L.P. : Begins on hour or h+30, very regular. Sends VW VVV DE
QLX in morse for 5 mins, before. Sends 3f ID for 5 mins (if a
null message this ends after 2 mins.), 5f single groups
followed by "Papaqui" (L.P. claims this is Czech for repeat;
the word may have sounded like that, but it is not a Czech
spelling, nor does it mean 'repeat') 3f msg repeated, ends
-Konec" . Station ended 1989. Regular schedules gradually
resumed, including a morse version in 1990. (this definitely
refers to our present GLX)
S.H 3 s Begins at any 5 min. interval ( correct ) , sends rapid
dots for 5 mins, prior to ID, sends 3f ID for 5 mxns, 5f
single groups follow group count. Ended December 1990.
Although aware of this station in the 1980' s, (it was
impossible not to be! ) I now regret not having kept logs, as
the above contradictions would have been easier to untangle! I
suspect that L.P. has become confused, and that the callsign
OLX only appeared when the new network started operating. (I'm
sure I'd have noticed OLX if it was around in the 80's)
S15 did appear at any 5 min. interval within the hour , and
used a regular set of callsigns, in the same way that OLX does
now, however, 515 also included callsigns which acted as null
message indicators* These all included a zero as one of the
three figures? no message followed these calls, the
transmission abruptly ending. As soon as the agent/ il legal
heard such a call he/she would listen no further. The
recipient would not have to "endure 5 minutes of mind-numbing
' dva tri asm' ad nauseam, only to be rewarded by a sudden
departure" as S.M. states. Actually, in that particular case,
the ID 238 would indicate a message was to follow. ID's such
as 069 or 108 would be signs to switch off.
45
As in the present OLX, ID's don't refer to actual individual
agents - they are Schedule Numbers sent at a particular time
on a particular freq. For example, 72? schedule operated at
2045 (on a particular day of the week?) on 3380kHz, if this
was to change to, say, 707, no message would follow* Null
message indicators were not random 3f numbers including a
zero, and probably had an extra significance to the user of
any particular schedule. They included:— 052 061 069 082 085
092 108 201 204 205 208 507 707. Valid ID's included:- 158
185 242 269 272 288 (still used) 311 627 729 424.
The lesser— known H6A probably operated in a similar way*
Rapid dots (were these actually the rapid dashes as sent by M7
& (110? ) were sent for 5 mins. followed by a 3f ID sent six
times, then * Oil 011 (Just as today except that the dots have
been replaced by VVW WV DE OLX.) The call lasted between 3 &
12 mins, according to L.P. As with QLX , 5f groups follow the
group count, and were probably repeated in the same way. Like
OLX, it ended with ~ and ID sent 3 times. This station also
used null message indicators,. 023 031 043 etc. and ID's such
as 255 334 388 399 454 538 753 955. The Oil Oil was
occasionally replaced by OQi or 086. OLX today invariadiy
sends Oil. Its purpose is unknown and it only applies to the
Norse transmissions, and is now possibly no more than a legacy
from yhe past. Group counts have remained similar over the
years, rarely less than 50.
Freqs. used by the earlier network:- 3228 3238 3380 3457 3460
4065 4104 4160 4560 4790 4913 5270 5450 5770 5775 6780 7413
8159 9350 10180. Indicates a European operation. OLX,
however, is a worldwide operation? it not only replaced the
earlier network, but serves a different purpose. Around 1991
NX6 set up a Central European office in Prague. OLX uses a
completely new set of freqs (except 5775) 5- 3280 4601 5301
5775 6282 6758 8142 9320 11002 12275 14977 18303 and uses
three in parallel. Forty regular 3f schedule numbers are used
on a weekly basis ~ 161 time slots per week. (S15/M6A probably
used a more complex interlocking schedule) OLX sends so many
messages that not all can be valid. Agents will be allocated
particular schedules as and when required, meanwhile all
schedules remain in constant operation, regardless of whether
they are actually in use or not. The agent has no clue in the
preamble as to whether the forthcoming message is valid or
not.
In the final article we will turn to the so-called Control
Stations, S17 & S19, and the Czech Man in his non -Control
role. Is he still around? Me sometimes receive tan tal ising ly
vague reports of a “rough Slavic voice** on the lower
frequencies. Could that be him? Without more detailed
logging we'll never know. Please remember to record the
format of unknowns as fully as possible. It is crucial to
identif ication .
46
r
LOOKING EAST
We had lots of interest after our feature, in issue 8 - Looking
East - so I hope this update will bring you even more food for
thought. Our first port of call is Richard in Singapore who sent
us some very interesting information.
Richard starts by telling ENIGMA that the .unidentified log in our
Far East section last time round (6400 @ 15.00 UTC) is Pyongyang
Broadcasting Station (V15). The language is Korean, and the 5F
groups are intended for compatriots (i e-agents) in the south, be
they real or imaginary. PBS is also on MW & FM locally.
On the subject of New Star Radio (V13). Richard tells us that he
first heard it in 1990 when he began DXing. New Star Radio uses
several frequencies ; 8300 (NS stn 4), 9725 (NS stn 3)
11430 (NS stn 1) 13750 (NS stn 5) and 15388 (NS stn 2). Most
stations broadcast on the hour or half hour. 8300 does however
have a less regular schedule. Contrary to what Jerod Pore wrote.
I had never heard a physical location mentioned in their
broadcasts although it’s rather obvious that they are from
Taiwan, judging by accent.
Up until very recently all broadcasts were done manually,
recently however, some broadcasts have become ''computerised” with
the "numbers" section being inserted by computer. One wonders why
this investment is necessary if the whole operation is carried
out in order to confuse mainland China.
The following is a direct translation of the ’live' part of the
station announcement on June 19th at 09.00 UTC on 11430. All
other channels except 8300 were also on air but not in parallel .
Music (as yet unidentified) " This is New Star Broadcasting
Station One" (said twice), "in this time, for unit 4835. the
month of June, three telegrams, number 8 9. and 10, total of 63
characters (= words), unit 4835, please take note" (said twice)
more music. . .
"this is New Star Broadcasting Station 1” (said twice)" We are
going to read telegrams to you. Please take note, prepare to copy
’’(unit # and telegram again repeated). This whole sentence
repeated 3 times. '
4-7
A series of 4F groups follow. Occasionally (although rare) it is
a 5F group. If there are + 20 groups, a short announcement is
made after every 20 are completed to the effect that the said
number of characters have been read. If there is a message for
* more than 1 unit, the annoucenment would repeat the whole
formality with the 2nd unit after she is through with the first
one. After she completes a message she says
"The above is for unit 4835. June telegrams, numbers 8 of 19
characters is now completed ". If all messages are finished, she
says " The above special communication is completed, thanks for
listening, wishing you health and happiness - Goodbye".
I have never hear a message relayed from one unit to another.
Jerod is correct in saying that Chinese telegrams consist of 4F
groups with each representing a character. I have tried to decode
some of the messages with the Chinese telegram manual I own. but
needless to say . the results do not make any sense !
On two occassions. I have actually heard verbal messages. ” Unit
XXXX. it is some time since we last received a letter from you.
Last time you said you had made a new friend. How is the
situation now ? Please stay in original place and continue your
work. Wishing you peace and success. Goodbye", the message was
read twice. On another occasion, the lady announced after the
conclusion of the messages " Now. please listen to a selection
of music". For the next half hour, some Taiwanese pop music (
with no words) was heard.
The poor reception (22.15 UTC) of 8300 in SE Asia does seem to
suggest that this transmission is directed elsewhere, especially
when Voice of Asia is loud and clear in the 7 mHz band.
Richard has also sent us his observations on other Far East
stations mentioned in ENIGMA and some that are not.
"You also mentioned other transmissions in Far East languages.
So far, I am unsuccessful in hearing some of these despite my
location in Singapore. While checking out the frequency 5738 at
12.00 UTC I did hear something unexplained. For 5 minutes, a lady
repeated in Mandarin 'I am Zhuhai ' before saying ’No Goodbye’ I
have heard somethi ng similar on March 10th this year at 00.00 UTC
and 06 45 UTC on 15974 USB. ’Zhuhai' can refer to a place in
Guandang opposite Macau, but 2 years earlier I heard a similar
broadcast on 15940 AM. with the message ’I am cuckoo bird !
Zhuhai ’ therefore can also mean
’pigs rear feet' (!)
48
I *
Messages of this kind are rather occasional so catching them is
a hit "or miss affair. The accent of the announcer again suggests
Taiwan origin.
While flipping through my log. I also noticed an entry I made of
'Mai on 1st January 1995 at 23.37 UTC on 13824 USB. and again
the next day 04.05 to 04.07 UTC. Pips follow after Goodbye so
perhaps this is utility of some sort.
You may also be interested to know that some transport companies
in Taiwan employ SW - AM broadcasts consisting of numbers to
deploy their vehicles. Taxi companies are especially prevalent
in and around the 11 meter band, although they are heard less
freauently these days. I also suspect that cab companies in
Indonesia are employing something similar. Companies involved m
the distribution of consumer goods in Indonesia also employ
nunbers sent over short wave to check quantities of orders and
stock. Remember, Indonesia is a huge archi pel ogo. so the use of
SW radio in commerce is actually logical, as computers have yet
to spread to the many islands.
i
"Finally I have also heard what appears to be a Vietnamese
numbers station on 21st May at 10.30 UTC on 13990 USB. A man was
reading out 5F groups, no repeat, a ’click' was heard after every
group. The message went on for 3 minutes, some conversation with
another party and another message followed".
Risto in Finland also sends further confirmation about the
transmissions at 15.00 on 6400 k .Hz. Risto says this is definitely
Pyongyang. If you listen to this frequency at 15.30 or 16.00 UTC
you will hear those colourful propaganda programmes . fhe Korean
language is easily recognised by the word innida at the end of
every sentence. The nunbers transmission was heard last year
between 13.00 and 14.00 around the 49 mb. but never twice on the
same frequency.
49
Readers may be interested (not directly numbers related) to know
that the clandestine Voice of National Salvation ( which
broadcasts frm North Korea to the South) has had its location
traced. During a recent visit to North Korea, a member ot the
Asian Broadcasting Institute was able to confirm the location of
one of the transmitters used. According to an investigation by
the South Korean authorities, .this clandestine station has
transmitters in Pyongyang. Haeju and Wonsan. Of these tht ee
locations the Japanese DXer was able to confirm the presence of
the Wonsan transmitter, which is on a hill in Wonsan City
This transmitter is used on 3840 kHz. (R Japan 21 Hay & BDXC
Communi cation July).
Risto also tells us about a Chinese lady he heard last year at
20 no UTC on 5846 calling Golf Mike Mo-Sa. Later, she repeated
what wpre probably three Chinese numbers . She even said goodbye
at the end of the transmission which lasted about 5 minutes, she
has not been heard recently : zai jian.
LATE NEWS
Just before going to print. Richard in Singapore sends in further
information concerning a daily transmission at 14.00 UTC on 58/ o
kHz variable.
The transmission starts with 2 minute long interval signal same
as the one used by Radio Pyongyang. After that are 4 minutes oi
martial music. The lady then begins to read a series of messages
for different units. The lady's voice as well as the messge format
(5F groups) is similar to the one heard at 15.00 UTC daily on
6398 kHz UTC from PBS.
On 5873 kHz. the whole transmission lasts about 15 minutes,
signing off with another piece of martial music. The modulation
of the transmitter is less than satisfactory and is
characteristic of radio transmitters based in North Korea. The
language used in the this transmission is Korean.
Thanks for all contributions to Looking East. We would welcome
any further logs, news and oDservati ons concerning transmissions
from this area of the world.
HELP PAGE!
Melcome along to out ' Help Pago ' . I would like to start by thanking
all the readers who returned copies of the Questionnaire which was
sent out to those members who were due to renew subscriptions. Further
questionnaires will be sent with this issue , you will receive one if
your subscription is now due.
Thanks for all your subscription funds , extra money which we received
will be used to subsidise readers who find it difficult to send in.
funds.
The next issue of ESIGMA (10) will carry the results of our reader
survey, also we shall be carrying out a review of the progress we have
made up to our tenth issue - as a result of this the next ENIGMA
Newsletter will be published in late March 1986 - this will allow us
a little extra time to pull everything together.
1) Several readers were puzzled by the list of names which appeared at
the bottom of our help page, let me explain a little more.
The Lau gh ing Cavalier was the letter-writing name of Mr Peter Quin tel,
he sent in logs to Short Nave Magazine for many years - and was a
dedicated Numbers Station monitor, although we have had reports that
Peter died in April 1983 - did you know him or perhaps were in contact
with him ?
Langley Pierce , author of the book " Intercepting Numbers Stations ~ -
although we wrote to Langley he did not respond , in- fact he seems very
elusive and is not ( to our knowledge ) a member of ENIGMA - which seems
odd £ - One ENIGMA member called at Interproducts mailing address in
Perth, Scotland, (many other activities go on at this address) but Mr
Pierce was not there 1 Another ENIGMA reader wrote to Mr Pierce about
a month ago, but has not yet received a reply. Our reader comments,
“maybe he is on holiday or perhaps he is a bit - er- shy".
G H Merrick was the joker card in the pack - but may have something in
common with the others. Harold in Southampton spotted this on & and
wrote “ G H Merrick is a mythical person to whom all official letters
are addressed when writing to MIS, see 'The Intelligence Game' by
James Busbridger page Iff **. Spot on t Harold.
2) Transmission sites, ‘ Thank you to those readers who sent in
information concerning sites, please continue to send this to us
(anonymous information always appreciated ) - Due to the amount of
information we hold on this subject, we are saving this feature over
until next time.
5 /
^ ti
If i
3) Radio Marti i Sam International, Me are still keen to hear from
anyone who may have had connections with this station ; can you help ?
My thanks to Andy Cadier at Short Wave Magazine, who printed the
following information in his “ Off The Record Page “ (October issue)
“ Spy Ship". The numbers station group ENIGMA, in a recent newsletter
are seek ing information on an alleged numbers station that they say
was located aboard the pirate radio vesswl HERO II. Radio North Sea Int
had five transmitters aboard the ship, lxlkW WHF/FM, IxlQSkH MW,
2xl OkW SW and an amateur radio transceiver.
Editors note .* Other transmitters included a lOkW MW, 630 MHz UHF
link, - the usual maritime WMF, HF/MF/LF equipment , HF RT¥Y link to
Geneva.
The amateur transceiver was run by the station engineers and for very
obvious reasons used a false Panamanian maritime mobile callsign .
The accusations relating to suspected espionage activities surfaced in
1971 following a dispute with a rival station called Radio Veronica.
On the 21st September 1971 five people, including m Radio Veronica
director, were sentenced to one year issprisfonsent for conducting a
fire bomb attack on the MEBO II. Although the stern of the ship was
badly damaged broadcasting continued while repairs were carried out.
MI eventually closed down on 30th August 1974 but the ship -was
detained in Holland until being sold to Libya in 1977. Thanks Andy.
(More on RNI in issue 10).
4) Several readers have asked about the legal position of listening to
number stations ? Others with amateur licences are worried about
keeping number logs. While scanning seems to be in the listening spot
light at present - what are your views on listening to numbers ?
Just a couple of interesting bits A pieces ; in issue. 8 we reviewed the
book “The Underground Frequency Guide" by Don Schxmmel . Mike in Bath
tells me he has heard from Harry Helms at High Text Publioations, the
book is available in the 0. X A Europe through the following address.
Gazelle Book Service Ltd , Falco/n House, Queens Square , Lancaster,
LAI 1RN UK. Telephone (O) 1524 63765 - FAX (O) 524 63232
Harry says that he does not know the UK price.
Simon Mason tells me he has been in touch with Irdial - Discs, who
are ready to launch the CD of Number Stations. They are working on
tapes received from listeners in the Far East at present, but the CD
should be out soon. He will keep you posted.
Thank you to all our readers who have taken time to drop us a line,
may we take this opportunity to wish you all a very peaceful and happy
Mew Tear for 1996. And please keep in touch.
SI
I
The Russian Man and Family — An Update
Mike Chace ( mikec @ praxis, co. uk)
Back in ENIGMA Issue 6, 1 wrote an article detailing the characteristics of this
interesting and very active family of numbers stations. The main members of the
clan, the Russian and English Men (S5, S6, E6 and E7) and the Morse Ml 2 and
Ml 4/24 stations continue at their usual level of activity but over the past months
there have been some new additions to the family and some more indications of
the stations’ schedules have been ascertained.
Meet the Family
At the time of writing my original article I knew that the family consisted of the
Russian Men, English Men and German Ladies in voice, and Ml 2 and Ml 4/24 in
Morse. Since that time, we have new arrivals in the form of the Spanish Man
(V7) and Spanish Lady (V&) and an English Lady ( E17a ) has also been heard, but
only on one occasion.
A German Man ( G19 ) has been known to have been operational a few years ago
(see Simon Mason’s “Euronumhers Mystery” book) but has not been heard by me
since I first began to concentrate on these stations.
The English Lady was heard only once in an interesting transmission on
13875kHz on Saturday, 3rd June, 1995. This transmission began at 1230UTC
with the English Lady calling in the normal family manner for agent 647. On
completion of the message, the English Man (E6) immediately began to call for
the same agent, but with a new style of voice sy thesiser. Sadly, neither this new
male voice nor the female variant have been heard by me since that day.
Both the Spanish language variants have low levels of activity which perhaps
indicate that this network does not have many agents using this language. The
pronunciation of numbers in both cases is standard Castiilian Spanish.
Regular Transmissions
At the time of writing, I know of only three remaining regular schedules. One is
kept by a Russian Man, one by an English Man, and the other by a German Lady.
Hem they am:
S3
Language
Day
Time (UTC)
Frequency
Agent
Russian (525)
Daily
0800
14890kHz
615
Russian (525)
Daily
0820
11270kHz
615
English (Ed)
Monday 1
1910
10162kHz
947
English (Ed)
Monday
2010
8074kHz
94 7
German (G7)
Tuesday 2
0630
7378kHz
278
German ( G7)
Saturday
090Q 3
ll$27kHz
623-1
As noted in the previous article, agent 947 rarely receives traffic but continues to
be called-up each week. When messages do appear, they are usually very long —
the record still standing at a marathon 401 groups — which also applies to the
German Lady's transmission to “278”
Despite over 600 individual loggings of the family over four years, I have still to
determine a schedule for any of its members. This appears to support the
assertion made by Langley Pierce in his book “Intercepting Numbers Stations”
which told a similar stay of a suspected, very long and complex but as yet
undetermined schedule. What I can tell from my logs is that:
• transmissions to the same agent often appear on the same day, at the same time
and on the same frequency year after year,
• many transmissions appear on the same frequency, at the same time on one
day per week lasting for one month. Again, this monthly pattern is often
repeated a year later.
1 Repeated on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when a message is sent Repeated only on Tuesday if
no message is sent
2 March to October each year.
s This schedule appears to keep to UTC+1, probably indicating a Central European target In
other words, it appears at G8GGUTC during British Summertime (BST » UTC+I) but reverts to
0900UTC when the UK moves back to GMT during the winter and spring.
54
As regards these findings, it is the day of the transmission rather than the date,
that is important in determining its appearance next year. For example the third
Saturday in June, regardless of the date that that day occurs on.
More on the “Control” Transmission (525)
In my previous article on this family, I had christened the daily Russian Man
messages on 14890 and 1 1270kHz as the control transmission because of their
similarity to the Counting Station’s transmissions of the same name.
To recap, the normal mode of transmission sees 615, 615, 615 followed by a
single 5F group, sent twice on 14890kHz. All this is sent for a period of 10
minutes. This scheme is repeated for the next ten minutes but a different 5F
group is sent. The transmitter is then moved to 1 1270kHz where the process is
repeated, again with two different 5F groups. The normal end-of-message signal
of five zeros is only sent on the lower frequency. These transmissions continue
unbroken today.
I have carried out some analysis on the 5F groups sent, and this is what transpires:
• the four 5F groups sent always start with the same digit and end with the same
digit, for example 951 15, 92675 on 14890kHz and 97635, 90035 on
11270kHz;
® the start and end digits for any 5F group come from only a certain number of
pairs. These are:
0xxx2
0xxx8
2xxx9
4xxx 7
6xxxl
6xxx6
7xxx3
7xxx4
8xxx0
8xxx3
9xxx5
As to exactly what this denotes. I’m not sure. Perhaps a certain start and end
digit indicates a certain class of message, the meaning of which is conveyed
by the middle three digits?
• counting the number of calendar days between the appearance of a certain
start and end digit combination reveals some sort of pattern. For example, I
counted the number of days between each appearance of the 9xxx5 groups, in
nearly all cases, the intervals were divisible by a multiple of 4. However, this
finding is not 100% consistent amongst all start/end combinations.
, .«* *•,* _¥
I calculate that a good three months of everyday listening to the control
transmission may well reveal more information but due to present commitments.
Pm unable to take up the challenge myself. Of course, Fd love to hear from
anyone else if they would like to have a go!
As noted in my previous article on these stations, the control transmission has a
further two modes of traffic. Rarely, it will send either a normal (Format 1)
message or a strange hybrid format containing the groups 11111, 22222 and
33333 interspersed between normal “random” 5F groups. This latter type of
transmission will often continue for hours without end, the record standing at
over 4 hours. Many listeners have reported that this form of transmission has
been on the increase of late, in fact since the troubles in Bosnia have intensified.
More details on this transmission in the next issue of ENIGMA.
New Clues, Coincidences, and Odd Behaviour?
A few days before I began to write this update, I copied an English Man (E7)
transmission on 7779kHz at 2000UTC directed at agent 184-1. Having
previously swept the bands for the station’s tell-tale AM carrier, I went back
through the memory channels that I had stored as a result. One carrier was still
strong, and as expected, at 2010, the English Man started on 10868kHz to agent
184. Nothing unusual so far, but as I copied the first groups of the message
down, this is what I found: 21086, 82647, 77779, 23049. Notice that if you
knock the “2” of the first group off and continue to the first digit of the second
group, you get 10868 — the frequency currently in use. Even mom curious, if
you look carefully, the last frequency heard also occurs in the group 77779. The
message caught my attention in any case, as it was short and had rather too many
double-digits eg 44556, 33244 etc, but I had never seen frequencies mixed in with
the “text”. Just coincidence perhaps, but I’ll be watching in future....
Also look out for English Man (E7) transmissions to the agent “235”. These
messages always have a characteristic non-random format where the first three
groups are repeated in mirror image at the end of the message. A recent example
being: 00107, 19200, 19200, (54 more random 5F groups), 19200, 19200,
00107. Worth looking out for!
Meanwhile, I would be happy to provide others with a copy of my logs (on paper,
disk or via e-mail). Your logs concerning the stations in this feature are, as
always, very welcome. Until next time, 73 and good listening.
5G
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